The Salt Lake Chamber is teaming up with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the Davis Chamber, Ogden/Weber Chamber, Utah Department of Workforce Services and the Utah Veterans and Military Employment Coalition, to  host “Hiring Our Heroes – Salt Lake City,” a hiring fair for the region’s veterans and their spouses.  The event is part of the U.S. Chamber’s 100-city “Hiring Our Heroes” initiative, which thus far has connected more than 30,000 veterans with more than 1,700 employers, helping 2,600 veterans land jobs.

The are over one million unemployed veterans in the country according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Just under 5,000 live in Utah–the 10th lowest figure for any state in the nation.

Just last week, the Chamber held a panel discussion with local business leaders who have jobs they cannot fill simply because they cannot find workers with the right skills and education levels. Many veterans have skills that will help fill these jobs.

Potential employers have an advantage when hiring veterans. Those who have served in the military bring intangible skills to the workplace that often don’t show up on a resume. They are disciplined, hard working and often posses leadership skills beyond those of non-veteran workers.

This event is one of the largest fairs to date, bringing Salt Lake-area employers together with hundreds of local veterans. The event spans two days, Nov. 1 features a veterans job search seminar and a veteran business ownership workshop. The Nov. 4 event features a government contracting seminar from 9 a.m. to noon and a Hiring Our Heroes Job & Veterans Benefits Fair from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Participants include companies ranging from America’s biggest employers to dozens of small companies from across the state.  These companies are looking for veterans of all levels of rank and experience.

You can find more information HERE.

Earlier this week, the Salt Lake Chamber joined hundreds of Utahns who added a stitch to The National 9/11 Flag.

Destroyed in the aftermath of the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001 and stitched back together seven years later by tornado survivors in Greensburg, Kansas, The National 9/11 Flag is a living testament to the resilience and compassion of the American people.

The New York Says Thank You Foundation is currently taking The National 9/11 Flagon a journey across America where local service heroes in all 50 states will be given the historic privilege of stitching the flag back to its original 13-stripe format using pieces of fabric from American flags destined for retirement in each state. Once the flag is restored and made whole again by the 10th Year Anniversary of 9/11,

The National 9/11 Flag will become a part of the permanent collection of the National September 11 Memorial Museum being built at the World Trade Center.

The Salt Lake Chamber, as Utah’s business leader, strongly supports the heroes who make up our military and first responders.

So many in this community make a tremendous effort to support our men and women in uniform, and it was our pleasure to honor two of them earlier this week.

The Salt Lake Chamber, with the support of our Military Affairs Committee, presents the Patriot award to an individual or organization that has made a considerable impact in relation to our service members and family members.

For the last ten years Tom Guinney (Center, above) and John Williams (left, above) have supported the “Salute to our Nation’s Defenders Picnic” at Hill AFB.

What started out at a small event of a couple hundred people has grown into a massive event that last Friday fed over 2,500 service members and their families.

All of the food is provided and served by Gastronomy, with sponsors like Zions Bank and America First Credit Union make cash contributions to help offset some of the cost.

Tom served our country as a member of the U.S. Navy during three tours in Vietnam. He has since become one of the biggest supporters and advocates for our service members in our community.

Recently Tom and John assisted the family of an Ogden Army reservist who had been shot in the head while serving in Afghanistan.  They closed their restaurant, the New Yorker, to allow Zions to host a fundraiser. Proceeds helped the soldier’s wife and young daughter be at his bedside while he recovers in a California hospital.