Governor Glenn Youngkin presented a Virginia Values Veterans (V3) certification to Walmart on Monday, commemorating national Hire a Veteran Day.
“The fabric of the Commonwealth I often refer to as the spirit of Virginia. And the spirit of Virginia is so much stronger with our veterans being so woven into that fabric,” Youngkin said. “So I want to thank our veterans first for loving our nation and for serving selflessly. I want to thank our veterans’ families, because when you serve, they serve. And finally, I want to thank Walmart.”
“I want to thank Walmart for caring deeply about our veterans and providing career opportunities, life opportunities for this most extraordinary group of people,” he said.
The Department of Veterans Services announced the V3 Initiative in 2012 under Governor Bob McDonnell as part of an effort to reduce veteran unemployment, according to a 2012 McDonnell release. The program offers free trainings to points of contact within companies, and has already certified many companies in 2022.
“Since its creation in 2013, the Department of Veterans Services’ V3 Program has trained and certified more than 2,000 Virginia businesses and other employers on how to best recruit, hire, and retain Virginia Veterans in their workforces. The program has resulted in over 96,000 veteran hires,” Virginia Secretary of Veterans and Defense Affairs Craig Crenshaw said in Youngkin’s Monday press release.
“With more than 46,000 sales associates statewide and their own corporate ‘Find A Future’ national program dedicated to hiring veterans and military spouses, we are exceptionally pleased to have Walmart partner with our V3 program.”
“Walmart is proud to partner with the Virginia Values Veterans (V3) program to provide opportunities for veterans and military spouses to learn and grow,” Walmart’s Senior Director of Military Programs Brynt Parmeter said in the release. “Our partnership will help advance the economic opportunity and well-being of our veterans, building on our focus to help them achieve their goals in education, employment, and entrepreneurship.”
This article originally appeared in The Virginia Star. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the positions of The Republican Standard. Republished with permission.