Three Delaware businesses are recognized for their commitment to veterans’ hiring and retention.
The businesses are recipients of The U.S. Department of Labor’s 2023 HIRE Vets Medallion Awards- given for support in recruiting, employing, and retaining U.S. military veterans.
Middletown's Summit Aviation received the Platinum Level Award, while Fireside Partners Inc. in Dover and Spark Energy Services Inc. – doing business as Hohm Energy USA in Newark – received Gold Level Awards.
James Rodriguez is assistant secretary with the Department of Labor’s veteran employment training service. He explains how the awards are broken down.
"The gold level is not less than 7% of employees hired and not less than 75% of the vets hired retained in the last 12 months. So in other words we're focusing on hiring and retention, that's the gold level. And then when you look at the platinum, not less than 10% of employees hired and not less than 85% of vets hired retained for the last 12 months," said Rodriguez.
The award was created by the 2017 Honoring Investments in Recruiting and Employing American Military Veterans Act.
"So we know businesses do extremely well when they have veterans in the workplace,” said Rodriguez. “Veterans outperform their non-veteran peers. Veterans get promoted faster and at higher rates than non-veteran peers, and they have other skill sets that they developed in training throughout their careers as well as professional development that can be utilized in any organization but more importantly small businesses."
The businesses receive a certificate and electronic version of the seal to indicate on their website they’re a gold or platinum award winner.
The three Delaware businesses were among the 859 businesses honored nationwide.
