"Operation Austin" finding Central Texas Veterans jobs
AUSTIN, Texas - The FOX7 Care Force explains how Central Texas is trying to take advantage of a tremendous resource.
That resource is the newly minted veteran who is looking for a job and career.
The Austin Chamber of Commerce is starting a "first of it's kind" program to match vets with local businesses that need new talent, it is called "Operation Austin."
With great fanfare the Austin Chamber of Commerce and Ft. Hood announced their plan to find Central Texas Veterans Central Texas employment.
According to Col. Matthew Elledge, "We transition 10 thousand soldiers a year into the community with all the great values we instill in our soldiers and their families...that's a great workforce that's moving on."
The Austin Chamber says "Operation Austin" is the first time a geographic region, in this case Central Texas, is going after vets for a range of jobs and careers, industries such as healthcare, information technology and support, not just law enforcement positions.
Drew Scheberle with Austin Chamber of Commerce had this to say, "This is a handshake between the Central Texas business community and exiting vets. When a vet is told you'll leave in 12 to 14 months they get info on how to access their benefits but no information on what jobs are in demand, what certifications are in demand, what employers are in demand."
One Central Texas employer that's demanding to hire more vets is Rackspace.
Rackspace is a San Antonio based company that makes sure their clients don't have problems with their websites, their computer systems, and their internet services.
At Rackspace's Austin location their employees make sure customers never have a computer related issue.
The company already employs more than 300 vets and they want more because vets have the fundamentals Rackspace needs.
Bill Blackstone of Rackspace says, "Fanatical support is at the core of everything we do. We work with customers to help them enable their businesses and we put their needs above our needs and that fits well with the military core value of a mission and purpose of helping others."
Rackspace is one of 56 companies that will be heading to Ft. Hood next month in search of new talent.
The Ft. Hood job fair is scheduled for the February, 26th.