Delaware News

Governor’s Weekly Message Transcript – Strengthening Economic Opportunities for our Veterans

Former Governor Jack Markell (2009-2017) | News | Date Posted: Friday, November 7, 2014



Across Delaware and across the country, the coming Veterans Day provides a special opportunity for parades, recognition ceremonies, and other celebrations. As Commander in Chief of the state’s National Guard, I feel an incredible sense of pride at this time – thinking about the thousands of military men and women who have represented Delaware, both abroad and in domestic emergencies. But we can be particularly proud as a state because our appreciation for veterans reaches far beyond national holidays.

Past and present service members were hit especially hard by the recent recession. Thanks to a concerted effort by our business community with support from government agencies, our veterans’ economic opportunities have improved. The unemployment rate for our most recent returning veterans plummeted from 13 to six and a half percent over a couple of years. And working together we have identified unnecessary obstacles that service members and veterans, and their families face in transitioning to the civilian world.

Earlier this year we removed another one of those obstacles by allowing military education, training and experience to count when issuing professional licenses. Previously, when medical personnel like Deshawn Jenkins returned from treating members of our armed forces overseas and wanted to pursue the same line of work in Delaware, they were required to complete an entire new educational program because their military training didn’t help them qualify for a nursing license. Now we’ve corrected Delaware’s licensing system so veterans can compete for jobs on a fair playing field.

Even as we recognize our state’s progress, we can’t declare victory. As long as one veteran isn’t getting a fair shot, we have more to do. This Veterans Day, let’s recommit to giving them the opportunities they’ve earned. That will keep Delaware moving forward.

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Keep up to date by receiving a daily digest email, around noon, of current news release posts from state agencies on news.delaware.gov.

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Governor’s Weekly Message Transcript – Strengthening Economic Opportunities for our Veterans

Former Governor Jack Markell (2009-2017) | News | Date Posted: Friday, November 7, 2014



Across Delaware and across the country, the coming Veterans Day provides a special opportunity for parades, recognition ceremonies, and other celebrations. As Commander in Chief of the state’s National Guard, I feel an incredible sense of pride at this time – thinking about the thousands of military men and women who have represented Delaware, both abroad and in domestic emergencies. But we can be particularly proud as a state because our appreciation for veterans reaches far beyond national holidays.

Past and present service members were hit especially hard by the recent recession. Thanks to a concerted effort by our business community with support from government agencies, our veterans’ economic opportunities have improved. The unemployment rate for our most recent returning veterans plummeted from 13 to six and a half percent over a couple of years. And working together we have identified unnecessary obstacles that service members and veterans, and their families face in transitioning to the civilian world.

Earlier this year we removed another one of those obstacles by allowing military education, training and experience to count when issuing professional licenses. Previously, when medical personnel like Deshawn Jenkins returned from treating members of our armed forces overseas and wanted to pursue the same line of work in Delaware, they were required to complete an entire new educational program because their military training didn’t help them qualify for a nursing license. Now we’ve corrected Delaware’s licensing system so veterans can compete for jobs on a fair playing field.

Even as we recognize our state’s progress, we can’t declare victory. As long as one veteran isn’t getting a fair shot, we have more to do. This Veterans Day, let’s recommit to giving them the opportunities they’ve earned. That will keep Delaware moving forward.

image_printPrint


Graphic that represents delaware news on a mobile phone

Keep up to date by receiving a daily digest email, around noon, of current news release posts from state agencies on news.delaware.gov.

Here you can subscribe to future news updates.