Contact: Amy Hasenberg, (608) 266-2839

Promotes Talent Attraction Campaign to Bring Veterans to Wisconsin

OSHKOSH – Governor Scott Walker today addressed attendees at the 100th annual American Legion State Convention commending them for their commitment to Wisconsin’s communities. While attending Governor Walker also highlighted the talent attraction campaign that is working to grow Wisconsin’s workforce.

“The American Legion serves as a strong ally in providing for those who fought for our freedom,” said Governor Walker. “Wisconsin already offers more benefits to veterans than any other state, and with the help of the American Legion we will continue working to better serve them—this is one of the many reasons we believe our military men and women, after fulfilling their service obligation, should come to work and live in Wisconsin. Through our talent attraction campaign, we are encouraging our veterans to come to Wisconsin and work for one of our world-class companies and receive the benefits our state has to offer.”

The talent attraction campaign is bringing together the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC), Department of Workforce Development (DWD), the Department of Tourism, and the Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs (WDVA) to recruit and retain workers in Wisconsin. The campaign will use marketing investments to target out-of-state residents, specifically veterans, millennials, university alumni and others.

The Governor also presented the American Legion with a $100,000 Veterans Service Organization Grant for their claims office, which provides veterans with help navigating federal laws regarding veteran benefits. The WDVA Veteran Service Organization Grant is given to state veterans service organizations (VSO) to provide claims services to veterans throughout the state

“The American Legion and other Veterans Service Organizations (VSOs) are critical components of Wisconsin’s Veterans support network,” WDVA Secretary Dan Zimmerman said. “Veterans are best served by the personalized service these VSOs provide. Each year Veterans bring back to Wisconsin about $1 billion in economic benefits, infusing those dollars into the state and local economies. Helping the American Legion directly serve Veterans is one of WDVA’s most critical roles.”

The American Legion is one of the largest and most prominent nonprofit groups in the country having served America’s veterans since World War I. The Wisconsin chapter was chartered on August 1, 1920. Wisconsin currently has more than 500 American Legion Posts with more than 50,000 members in total. The American Legion Auxiliary was founded in 1919 to support the American Legion. It represents the largest women’s patriotic service organization in the world.

American Legion and American Legion Auxiliary members help provide services to our veterans, donate to scholarships, and donate thousands of pints of blood each year. The organizations also sponsor Badger Girls and Badger Boys State each year which provides young men and women the opportunity to learn more about state and local government.

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