State recognizes employers for hiring veterans

The commonwealth recognized 14 companies on Thursday for their efforts in hiring and training veterans.

The Virginia Values Veterans, a Virginia Department of Veterans Services program, presented awards during the 2017 Virginia Workforce Conference, hosted by the Virginia Chamber Foundation at the Greater Richmond Convention Center.

More than 700 businesses, government agencies and educational institutions have been certified under the V3 program and have hired 26,852 veterans since 2012.

The 2017 Virginia Values Veterans Award winners are:

Governor’s Award (total number of annual veteran hires)
•         Small company: Blueforce Inc., Hampton (62 hires)
•         Medium company: ITA International LLC, Virginia Beach (110 hires)
•         Large company: Top Guard Security, Hampton (258 hires)
•         Enterprise company: Sentara Healthcare, Virginia Beach (470 hires)

Triumph Award (most transformative hiring process)
•         Dominion Energy, Richmond

Readiness Award (best workforce readiness initiative)
•         FDM Group, Reston

Advancement Award (best in career development)
•         GBS, Virginia Beach

Breakthrough Award (most innovative retention program)
•         Networking Technologies + Support Inc., North Chesterfield

MVP Award (most inspiring workplace culture)
•         First Data, Glen Allen and Chesapeake

Impact Award (community impact and advocacy for veteran issues)
•         Altria, Richmond

Influencer Award (best workforce readiness initiative)
•         Pro-Sphere, Alexandria

Trailblazer Award (best premier employer with superior efforts in recruitment, hiring, retention and more)
•         ITA International LLC, Virginia Beach

Phoenix Award (most inspiring success story for going above and beyond to support a Veteran hire)
•         Bon Secours, Richmond

V3 Grant Award (companies approved for maximum grant initiative award of $10,000 in FY17)
•         Cape Henry Associates, Virginia Beach
•         PD Systems, Prince George