NMEA, Veterans Florida partner on workforce development
The National Marine Electronics Association (NMEA) has announced a collaboration with Veterans Florida to help the marine electronics industry-wide labor shortage by bringing in qualified veterans who are looking for a career after exiting their military service.
“Florida has the largest marine industry of any state, along with the largest membership demographic for NMEA,” said Mark Reedenauer, NMEA president & executive director. “As we talk with member companies, finding quality employees is their top challenge, and has been since 2020. We looked towards an organization where work ethic, structure, respect, and loyalty were at the top of the list, and Veterans Florida checks all those boxes.”
Veterans Florida offers the following services at no charge to NMEA member companies who are located in Florida:
Workforce Recruiting matches veterans’ and their spouses’ skillsets to your requirements. They receive hundreds of resumes each month and do the heavy lifting of screening and matching top talent for your job openings. Their team of recruiters know how to review military resumes with you and find job matches based on skills gained while in the service.
The Veterans Florida Workforce Training Grant reimburses qualified employers 50% of industry skills-based training costs for new or current employees. It’s easy to get started. Your dedicated point of contact at Veterans Florida will walk you through the process step by step.
The third offering is the Florida SkillBridge Initiative. The U.S. Department of Defense SkillBridge Program enables service members within 6 months of retirement or separation and with their commanders’ approval to gain workforce training at an employer. NMEA member manufacturers and dealers may improve their workforces at no cost, as DOD maintains the servicemembers’ salary and benefits during the training period. Veterans Florida guides employers through developing training, obtaining DOD approval, and recruiting SkillBridge participants.
