(WXMI) — Ottawa County held its inaugural veterans job fair on Monday with a simple mission to help those who have served our country find employment opportunities.
There are nearly 12,000 veterans in Ottawa County. The event aimed to connect potential employees with employers who are looking to hire former service members.
"These are really important for veterans like me and others that I know who just don't know where to start, don't know where to look," said Dustin Mattox, Army veteran and Zeeland resident.
Veterans I spoke with discussed the challenges of transitioning from serving in the armed forces to civilian life.
"More than I think people realize, it's definitely moving from the army or moving from the military in general into the civilian side is definitely a very very different walk of life," said Jacob Lotterman, Army veteran and Hudsonville resident.
The event featured 25 booths offering employment opportunities, education resources, and veteran services. Many of the recruiters present were veterans themselves.
"I'm working with our talent and acquisition team to hire more veterans at our organization. My role as a chairman of our employee resource group called SN Vets is to provide resources to our veteran employees. And so just kind of helping to represent that and get more veterans into the company," said Pat Piechocki, Army veteran and Spartan Nash recruiter.
Ottawa County has declared July as Veterans Month and is planning to open a dedicated Veterans Services facility later this year.
"We've had a great turnout. It's been really busy in terms of the amount of veterans we've had here and just having all the different employers be in a central location where not only they can help veterans but also network about what's going on the veteran community. I think that's been really helpful as well," said Caleb Worpel, Community Outreach Specialist for the Department of Veterans Services.
For many veterans attending the job fair, the event provided not just career opportunities but also hope.
"Events like this, when you come across them, they're very important to help not only for your like your physical life but for your mental health too. It's just been a huge positive thing for me for someone who is struggled with mental health after the military. Coming here kind of gives you a lot of hope and hope is everything," said Mattox.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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