Going Further Than Offering Thanks, Offering a Job Too
Editor’s Note: View the above video on the Continuum Veterans Foundation website and learn about CVF’s mission to help veterans find jobs in the IT industry. CVF is looking forward to its annual gala and fundraiser taking place on September 13, 2018, benefiting Hire Heroes USA. On the site, you’ll find a gallery of photos from previous events, as well as testimonials from honored veterans who’ve supported the foundation over the years.
Above: Continuum Veterans Foundation homepage at cvf.continuum.net, which is currently promoting the annual gala and fundraiser to benefit Hire Heroes USA. The website also features videos and testimonials about how the foundation is actively helping veterans find jobs in the IT industry and at Continuum.
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Most readers are aware of our commitment to help our veterans. We are currently involved in a capital campaign for Camp4Heroes. If you’d like to learn what this small group is doing to create a retreat in Fairmount, North Carolina, for veterans who suffer from PTSD, visit Camp4Heroes.org to learn more about this unique organization. Its story is incredibly inspiring, and the team has done a lot of good work.
Other organizations are also doing their part to help veterans. One of our newest clients and partners, Continuum, which some of our readers use for managed IT, is one of those organizations. As usual, we dedicate much of our time getting to know our partners and strive to do whatever we can to help them in a way that makes sense for the both of us. Recently, I had a long conversation with Michael George, CEO of Continuum, about what his company is doing to actively assist veterans.
George was motivated to become involved by watching a program hosted by broadcaster Tom Brokaw called “Hire Our Heroes.” The message was simple: Hiring veterans is a very good thing to do.
“That is what we ought to be doing,” recounted George, reflecting on his thoughts after watching the program launch and unfold.
Under his direction, Continuum made a commitment to develop a program to help veterans gain employment. In 2012, the company created a 501(c)(3) organization, The Continuum Veterans Foundation, which provides financial support to local and national charities that focus on helping veterans find jobs in IT. Through the Foundation, a percentage of Continuum’s profits are directed to select nonprofit veteran organizations.
Continuum employees are asked to buy into this program by donating 1% of their time (roughly 20 hours per year) to volunteer on food drives and other endeavors that support veteran’s organizations. The company has set an example by hiring veterans and offers statistics that say 22% of those in IT services nationwide are veterans. During our conversation, George pointed out that only 9% of the entire U.S. population is either in active service, have served, or are retired.
From our perspective, the IT and imaging industry, in general, can greatly benefit from the training many of our armed forces have received and are receiving in communications, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, and computer-aided weaponry. The transition to peace-time services should be relatively easy for many of these individuals.
We are proud to say that Continuum is not the only company in our industry making a serious commitment to help our veterans. In a visit to HP last year, we learned of its extensive program for training veterans to perform IT services. We salute them as well. And last year at Sharp’s dealer meeting, that company expressed its commitment to hiring veterans, as well as encouraging its dealers to do so.
Of the 9% of the U.S. population serving or having served in the U.S. military, only 1% are in active duty. They carry an enormous weight and deserve our support. Businesses at every level should open their organizations to proactively hiring veterans. We believe this is not only the right thing to do, it is also a strategically sound thing to do as well. By hiring a veteran, businesses would be hiring people who put helping others above serving themselves. They honored us by their service and now, we have the opportunity to honor them.
If you are actively hiring veterans, please share your story. We will list your company on an Honor Roll published in each installment of Veteran’s Way. We look forward to adding many company names to this list. It is one more way to show just how special our industry is when it comes to helping those in need.
Continuum’s Commitment The following corporate mandate for this valuable service Continuum is providing to our nation’s deserving, self-sacrificing veterans is from the company’s website.
“Throughout our history, Americans have come together and proudly supported our brave young men and women while they serve this country. There are untold stories about the plight of veterans who come home ready to rejoin society but are faced with enormous challenges. Because of the great sacrifice of our U.S. military, the Continuum Veterans Foundation is dedicated to helping returning troops find jobs in the IT industry. Thanks to organizations like Hire Heroes USA, an organization dedicated to creating job opportunities for U.S. military veterans and their spouses, many are helping to make civilian job opportunities a reality.”
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