Accomplishment Spotlight: VISTA Members at Still Serving Veterans Assist in Veterans Business Development Training

On March 20, Still Serving Veterans, the Women’s Business Center of North Alabama, U.S. Small Business Administration, Alabama Wounded Warriors, and the Alabama Career Center held a regional event to help veterans become entrepreneurs and business owners. ALA Call to Service Corps members assigned to Still Serving Veterans supported this employment-related event. For example, VISTA member Patricia Godsey was on hand to photograph the event and provide onsite support.

The full-day event, titled Empowering Our Veterans, included training classes in the morning and employer booths setup in the afternoon. The first entrepreneurship session gave knowledge about how to start, grow and finance a business. Secondly, those looking for a career were provided with human resource personnel from major companies in Huntsville. Professionals were available to review veterans’ resumes, provide information on understanding the mechanics of an interview, dress code expectations, and how to use web-based job search engines. The attendees also learned about networking and professional development. Veterans at the event could also visit booths that were setup by businesses and organizations wanting to hire a veteran.

Employers received guidelines for recruiting, hiring and managing a post-military workforce. For the veterans, business advisors and human resource professionals were available to answer questions and give individuals information as needed. A group of human resources personnel reviewed the resumes of the attendees. Embassy Suites, the host location, provided 20 computers with wireless printing access, which allowed resume changes to be made immediately.

To learn more about this event, visit http://www.stillservingveterans.org/wbcna_empowering_our_veterans0.aspx