RICHMOND – Governor Terry McAuliffe today recognized businesses for their ongoing commitment to creating employment opportunities for Virginia’s military veterans at the 2017 Virginia Workforce Conference, hosted by the Virginia Chamber Foundation. More than 700 businesses, state and local government agencies, and educational institutions, certified under the Virginia Values Veterans (V3) Program, have hired 26,852 veterans since the program’s inception in 2012.

“Virginia is home to one of the largest veteran populations and boasts more veterans per capita in our labor force than in any other state in America,” said Governor McAuliffe. “We each have the responsibility to serve these veterans just as they have served us, and I’m proud that we’ve been able to do that effectively through the Virginia Values Veterans program. This is a true public-private partnership that has a proven track record in encouraging companies to hire and retain skilled veteran leaders in our civilian workforce. By continuing our focus on creating economic opportunities for veterans and their families, we will remain the best state in the nation for veterans and their families.”

Virginia was the first state to create an official program dedicated to improving the employment of veterans by training employees on the best practices to recruit, hire, train, and retain veterans. In August 2014, Governor McAuliffe challenged the V3 Program to hire 10,000 veterans in four years. V3 reached this goal 900 days ahead of schedule. The Governor set a new goal of 20,000 hires by 2018, which was met 400 days ahead of schedule in November 2016. In February 2017, he set a new goal of 25,000 hires, which was once again reached ahead of schedule in July 2017. The current goal is set at 30,000 veteran hires by January 2018.

“The men and women who serve our nation in the armed forces deserve world-class services from their Commonwealth as they transition to civilian life,” said Secretary of Veterans and Defense Affairs Carlos Hopkins. “Through the V3 program and other important resources, we are building on Virginia’s standing as the best state for veterans and their families to live, work and raise a family.”

“It is fitting that the theme of this year’s conference is ‘Veterans: Closing the Workforce Gap,’” said John L. Newby II, Commissioner of the Virginia Department of Veterans Services. “Today’s event brought together hundreds of leading employers, educators, human resource managers, veterans groups and policymakers from throughout the Commonwealth to explore opportunities and share best practices to fill workforce demands with one of our greatest resources – our highly skilled military veterans. We are honored that Governor McAuliffe has joined us here today to personally recognize many of our V3 partner companies with awards and we look forward to recognizing additional V3 certified companies in the years to come.”

In recognition of the significant commitment of Virginia businesses in hiring veterans, Governor McAuliffe presented 15 awards in 11 categories during the 5^thAnnual V3 Awards Luncheon.

The 2017 Virginia Values Veterans (V3) Award winners are:

Governor’s Award (total number of annual veteran hires)

• Small Company           Blueforce, Inc.                       Hampton                     (62 hires)
• Medium Company        ITA International, LLC            Virginia Beach            (110 hires)
• Large Company           Top Guard Security                Hampton                     (258 hires)
• Enterprise Company     Sentara Healthcare                Virginia Beach            (470 hires)

Triumph Award (most transformative hiring process)

• Dominion Energy                                                       Richmond

 Readiness Award (best workforce readiness initiative)

• FDM Group                                                                Reston

 Advancement Award (best in career development)

• GBS                                                                          Virginia Beach

 Breakthrough Award (most innovative retention program)

• Networking Technologies + Support, Inc.                      North Chesterfield

 MVP Award (most inspiring workplace culture)

• First Data                                                                   Glen Allen & Chesapeake

 Impact Award (community impact and advocacy for veteran issues)

• Altria                                                                          Richmond

 Influencer Award (best workforce readiness initiative)

• Pro-Sphere                                                                  Alexandria

 Trailblazer Award (best premier employer with superior efforts in recruitment, hiring, retention and more)

• ITA International, LLC                                                   Virginia Beach

 Phoenix Award (most inspiring success story for going above and beyond to support a Veteran hire)

• Bon Secours                                                                Richmond

V3 Grant Award (companies approved for maximum grant initiative award of $10,000 in FYI 17)

• Cape Henry Associates                                                Virginia Beach
• PD Systems                                                                Prince George

About the Virginia Values Veterans (V3) Program

The Virginia Values Veterans (V3) Program is a Commonwealth of Virginia Department of Veterans Services Program. Its mission is to help employers understand, design and implement nationally-recognized best practices in recruiting, hiring and retaining veteran employees. For more information on the V3 Program, please visit www.dvsv3.com.