Effort aims to help soldiers land civilian jobs

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Soldiers being discharged from the military — particularly Fort Knox in central Kentucky — will get a sales pitch on the jobs available and benefits of staying in the area from a program started up Tuesday by business groups in Kentucky and southern Indiana.

The three chambers of commerce founded the “Where Opportunity Knox” initiative aimed at creating a pipeline for veterans who are looking for a post-military place to live and work.

Retired Col. Walter Herd, who runs the soldier transition program at Fort Knox, said on Tuesday that soldiers look for available jobs as well as the quality of life when deciding on a post-military home. Herd says the 26 counties around Fort Knox have much to offer on both fronts.

“This region is really leading the nation,” said Herd, a veteran of the war in Afghanistan. “Soldiers really are looking at the total package.”

The initiative is managed by three regional chambers of commerce — Greater Louisville Inc., the Hardin County Chamber of Commerce and One Southern Indiana — with the goal of pulling in 10,000 military veterans and their spouses to civilian jobs in a 26-county area around Fort Knox over the next three years. It’s funded by a $50,000 grant from the Duke Energy Foundation, the Ogle Foundation and the Gheens Foundation.

The move comes as the Army begins downsizing after 13 years of war in Afghanistan and Iraq. The U.S. Defense Department estimates that by 2016, about 480,000 soldiers will transition back to civilian life. In 2011, President Barack Obama challenged U.S. employers to hire 100,000 veterans and spouses by 2013. U.S. businesses hired 290,000 veterans by 2013 and have committed to hiring and training another 435,000 over the next four years.

The hiring push also coincides with an effort by businesses in the same area to hold off more possible cuts at Fort Knox. A worst-case scenario put together by the Army estimated that the iconic Kentucky base that recently lost its only fighting brigade would see the civilian and military workforce reduced to 5,527 by 2020, from 13,127 in 2011. Those cuts have not been made final and businesses in the area have been lobbying to save jobs at the post.

The Louisville area has about 6,000 to 8,000 jobs available. Fort Knox is the headquarters for the U.S. Army’s Transition Assistance Program where approximately 130,000 soldiers exit the Army annually.

Wendy Chesser, CEO of One Southern Indiana, said businesses are seeking well-trained workers and, with the program and the available jobs and incentives, the Louisville and southern Indiana area is in a good position to attract companies and as keep the businesses already here with former soldiers coming into the workforce.

“There’s a lot of infrastructure to build on,” Chesser said.

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Online: www.WhereOpportunityKnox.com

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Follow Associated Press reporter Brett Barrouquere on Twitter: http://twitter.com/BBarrouquereAP

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