First Annual OPE Summit Celebrates Success and Recognizes 16 Palmetto Military Employers
February 26, 2015
COLUMBIA, SC – Governor Nikki Haley joined representatives from the South Carolina National Guard, the South Carolina Department of Employment and Workforce (DEW) and other Veteran and employment service providers to celebrate a successful first year for Operation Palmetto Employment (OPE), a collaborative statewide military employment initiative launched a year ago this week. Due in part to OPE, DEW recently announced that the state’s unemployment rate for veterans dropped to 3.5 percent in 2014 from 4.1 percent in 2013. The first annual OPE Summit was held at Sysco Columbia.
“One year ago, we launched Operation Palmetto Employment as an idea,” said Haley. “It’s not an idea anymore. Today we’re celebrating a year of successful teamwork and partnerships that have put 1,300 Veterans and Service Members into meaningful jobs.”
Speakers including Adjutant General Robert E. Livingston, Jr., DEW Executive Director Cheryl M. Stanton, Colonel Ronald. F. Taylor of the South Carolina National Guard, U.S. Navy veteran Michael Marsden, U.S. Marine veteran John Warren and South Carolina Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve (ESGR) volunteer Jennifer Harding touched on the larger economic and personal impacts when Service Members, Veterans and Family Members successfully enter the civilian workforce.
“To all South Carolina employers: I urge you to hire Veterans not out of pity, but to improve your profitability,” said Warren, founder and president of Lima One Capital in Greenville. “If you give a Veteran the opportunity to work for you, they will get the job done.”
Sixteen organizations were recognized as certified Palmetto Military Employers: AlliedBarton Security Services, CB&I, Colonial Life, Columbia Fire Department, Columbia Police Department, the County of Lexington, McDonnell and Associates law firm, Nucor Building Systems South Carolina, Savannah River Remediation, South Carolina Department of Employment and Workforce, South Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles, South Carolina Department of Public Safety, South Carolina Department of Social Services, Sysco Columbia, The Home Depot Regional Distribution Center #5088, and Verizon Wireless. A PME credentialing event will be held in the Upstate on March 10, and soon in other regions of the state. Details on the credentialing process can be found online at www.OperationPalmettoEmployment.sc.gov.
