Additional zones will be launched this year.<\/p>\n
\u201cMilitary spouse employment is a very important aspect of a strong and resilient military,\u201d Pence said. \u201cWe know that if the spouses aren\u2019t happy the service members are going to get out of the service. We see it. It just makes sense. I\u2019ve given you eight years; you\u2019ve gotten to do what you love, now it\u2019s my turn. It\u2019s unfortunate that it has to be one way or the other.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s All About the Network<\/h4>\n
The beauty of the Military Spouse Economic Empowerment Zones is that each zone\u2019s working group focuses on local solutions for its military spouses, explained Natalie Ryan, senior manager with Hiring Our Heroes and MSEEZ Program Director. You can learn more about MSEEZ by listening Ryan\u2019s interview on episode 128 of the Hiring Our Heroes Sitrep podcast<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cEvery zone is coming up with its own solutions. They come up with a solution that fits their area,\u201d Ryan said.<\/p>\n The working groups comprised of committed employers and city leaders do more than host brainstorming sessions and committee meetings. The working group members identify solutions to create a \u201cpipeline of talent\u201d that connects military spouses to employment opportunities, Ryan said.<\/p>\n \u201cIt needs to be more than chatter. We need to be able to make an impact,\u201d Ryan said. In order to establish a Military Spouse Economic Employment Zone, a region also needs a vibrant and active Military Spouse Professional Network<\/a>.<\/p>\n Patie Powers, MSEEZ Tampa lead, said the zone\u2019s working group are built on Hiring Our Heroes\u2019 network of national and local employers. She noted that military spouses are getting hired in Tampa such like they are in San Antonio.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s all about the network \u2013 that\u2019s the foundation of our entire organization,\u201d Powers said. \u201cIn order to get a job, you have to have a network and you have to know somebody. Well, here\u2019s how we get you to know somebody.\u201d<\/p>\n In the past year, the Tampa MSEEZ<\/a> partnered with three national employers \u2013 Amazon, Capital One, and Spectrum \u2013 on quarterly company-led lunch and learns. In order to host a lunch and learn, the employer must have immediate job openings, a degree of flexible or work from home positions, opportunities to transfer to a new position during a military relocation, and a willingness to hire military spouses. The recruiters are required to attend the lunch and learns and review military spouses\u2019 resumes at the event.<\/p>\n The success of MSEEZ is as simple as bringing military spouses looking for employment into the same room with corporate recruiters, Powers said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe went with the \u2018lunch and learns\u2019 because we wanted to give people the opportunity to meet these people face to face and talk about hiring requirements. It\u2019s way to guide them through the process and it makes the hiring process personal,\u201d Powers said. \u201cAnd if the MSEEZ can bring people to those personal introductions, that\u2019s a huge win.\u201d<\/p>\n Army spouse Liz Larsen admitted that she was a bit skeptical of the MSEEZ concept.<\/p>\n \u201cI thought here we go again, something else that we are going to say \u2018this is going to help military spouses,\u2019 but are they going to do anything with it?\u201d Larsen said.<\/p>\n A year later, Larsen is the San Antonio MSEEZ chairperson and the initiative\u2019s most vocal proponent.<\/p>\n \u201cI believe in this 100% and I want to do whatever I can to make it a success in San Antonio,\u201d Larsen said. \u201cI think the employers along with everybody else wants to see military spouse employment improve.\u201d<\/p>\n It made perfect sense to launch the nation\u2019s first MSEEZ in San Antonio<\/a>; a community who enjoys the Military City USA claim to fame. As the largest joint base in the Department of Defense, Joint Base San Antonio has enjoyed a long and vibrant history of service members living and retiring there. Now the seventh largest city in the United States, ahead of Dallas and Austin \u2013 San Antonio\u2019s job growth was 2.3% in 2017 and the median household income is $57,654, according to Forbes magazine.<\/p>\n It also made perfect sense for USAA to be an active employment partner in the San Antonio MSEEZ, said USAA’s Director in Corporate Responsibility Selene Martin.<\/p>\n \u201cFulfilling careers for veterans and military spouses is a key USAA Corporate Responsibility national focus area and a way we advocate for issues impacting military members and their families,\u201d Martin said. \u201cThe Hiring Our Hero\u2019s MSEEZ are a flagship initiative that aligns with the collective vision of equipping and empowering employers across the nation to recognize the value of the military spouse talent pool and make a commitment to bring them into their organizations.\u201d<\/p>\n USAA\u2019s Assistant Vice President of Military Advocacy Mike Kelly said there have been many successes in the first year of the San Antonio MSEEZ.<\/p>\n \u201cMost importantly, we\u2019ve watched the foundation come together. Key partners across the city have joined forces to build a robust network of national and local employers, educational institutions, and community resources,\u201d Kelly said.<\/p>\n During the event, San Antonio\u2019s Director of Military and Veterans Affairs Juan Ayala announced that the city is in the final stages of signing an agreement with Hiring Our Heroes to support military spouse fellowship opportunities through HOH’s Corporate Fellowship Program<\/a> in San Antonio.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are currently working with Hiring Our Heroes on an agreement that will provide meaningful opportunities for these spouses. Hiring Our Heroes\u2019 Corporate Fellowship Program is one of them. Our plan is to connect spouses with the corporations and the municipalities in our region,\u201d Ayala said. \u201cAs you can see, we support our military with concrete actions and tangible results.\u201d<\/p>\n Nguyen, like many military spouses, hasn\u2019t had a linear career path. Through multiple military relocations, Nguyen pivoted her skills into various job opportunities in order to maintain a professional career. In Naples, Italy, she worked as a contractor for WWC and continued to work for WWC when she moved to Washington, D.C. Later, she worked for Booz Allen Hamilton in South Korea.<\/p>\n When Nguyen\u2019s spouse received orders to San Antonio, she felt relief. Surely, if she could find employment at two different continents halfway around the world, landing a job in Texas would be a breeze. After six months of job searching, Nguyen was shocked that she couldn\u2019t find a job that married her health care knowledge with her government contracting experience.<\/p>\n \u201cI found it extremely difficult to find a position where I could contribute all my professional, but inconsistent skills in a really meaningful way,\u201d Nguyen said.<\/p>\n Nguyen\u2019s answer to her employment challenges was volunteering to help with Hiring Our Heroes initiatives. She launched a Military Spouse Professional Network in San Antonio two years ago and built a supportive network of community advocates rallying around military spouse employment through the Military Spouse Economic Empowerment Zone.<\/p>\n Nguyen attributed these connections and partnerships to finding her current employer, Humana Military.<\/p>\n Pence said she found Nguyen\u2019s story encouraging and shows that the San Antonio MSEEZ\u2019s model can work to reduce military spouse unemployment rates through increased opportunities.<\/p>\n \u201cHolland has a job that she loves in her field. These are real results and that\u2019s what\u2019s so exciting about this,\u201d Pence said.<\/p>\n When Army veteran and military spouse Cliff Clevenger moved to San Antonio in July 2018, he wasn\u2019t sure exactly what type of job he wanted.<\/p>\n \u201cMy career has been all over the place. I\u2019ve done project management for security. I\u2019ve done medical front office assistant, financial account management, and most recently nonprofit operations with the USO,\u201d Clevenger said.<\/p>\n Clevenger\u2019s first stop was the USO San Antonio. He enjoyed his job with the USO in Hawaii and was hoping to find employment with them again. They didn\u2019t have any open positions, but an USO official recommended that he connect with members of the Military Spouse Professional Network. This Hiring Our Heroes networking group, launched by Nguyen two years ago, is thriving with 1,400 online members. So, Clevenger attended one event to make some connections and ended up immersing himself into the community.<\/p>\n Today, Clevenger credits the network for helping him find his current job as a career guidance specialist with Goodwill.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was absolutely crucial. The people that I met through my network were the ones who came to me and asked me to apply for the position. \u2026 [They said] \u2018It was a position that\u2019s available and we think you would be perfect for it,\u2019\u201d Clevenger said.<\/p>\n Pence commented that employment is the number one issue that she hears about from military spouses.<\/p>\n \u201cMilitary families, like many other families, in the United States would like to have an extra income, but you know what? It\u2019s not all about the income, although that definitely helps. It\u2019s also about fulfillment and satisfaction,\u201d Pence said.<\/p>\n Clevenger agreed.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is absolutely true. It\u2019s not hard to find a job, it\u2019s difficult to find the right job. The right job is the one where you are fulfilled, where you are doing something meaningful,\u201d Clevenger said.<\/p>\n Clevenger pointed out that it took him six months to land his current job. It took Nguyen more than a year to find her position. Both recommended that military spouses take advantage of the networking opportunities available through the MSEEZ and MSPN.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s one thing that I had to learn this time \u2013 don\u2019t be afraid to put yourself out there. Whether it be meeting new people or reaching out to jobs that you normally wouldn\u2019t reach out to,\u201d Clevenger said \u201cUse your networks like MSPN, USO and Goodwill because they are out there for you.\u201d<\/p>\n Nguyen encouraged military spouses to expand their professional network by attending job fairs and networking events.<\/p>\n \u201cThis Military Spouse Economic Empowerment Zone may just lead to your next career opportunity,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Hiring Our Heroes launched the nation\u2019s first Military Spouse Economic Empowerment Zone a year ago with a<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":808,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[25,61],"tags":[63,69,59],"service_role":[],"class_list":["post-807","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles","category-in-the-workplace","tag-campaigns","tag-military-spouses","tag-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n![\"Established](\"https:\/\/www.hiringourheroes.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/MSEEZ-Anniversary-San-Antonio-March-27-2019.jpg\")
<\/p>\nCity of San Antonio Supports the Military with Concrete Actions<\/h4>\n
Celebrating the Satisfaction of Results<\/h4>\n
![\"Established](\"https:\/\/www.hiringourheroes.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/MSEEZ-Anniversary-San-Antonio-March-27-2019-Holland-Nyugen.jpg\")
<\/p>\nIt\u2019s Not Hard to Find a Job, It\u2019s Difficult to Find the Right Job<\/h4>\n
![\"Established](\"https:\/\/www.hiringourheroes.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/JSL-20190327-01138.jpg\")
<\/p>\nEstablished to connect military spouses with companies committed to hiring, Military Spouse Economic Empowerment Zones are collaborative efforts among the local business, civic, and military communities that establish employment networks in municipalities around the country. Learn more about MSEEZ at HiringOurHeroes.org\/MSEEZ<\/a>.<\/h3>\n