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San Diego is home to the largest number of post 9/11 veterans, with 7,000 veterans leaving the military annually to reside here. Veterans make up over 8 percent of our total workforce, and their unique attributes following their time serving are invaluable assets to employers. The Chamber is one of the leading voices in the community for our veterans, and values the role that we can play in connecting the business community to veteran issues.

Chamber’s Position

The Chamber proudly supports the training, hiring and continued employment of our region’s veterans with the understanding of their substantial contribution to our local economy. Whether streamlining the transition from military to civilian employment, promoting incentives for our military-affiliated companies to stay and keep hiring in San Diego, or building coalitions focused on military affairs, the Chamber is proud to honor the brave men and women by supporting them in military and veteran life.

Latest Activity

In October 2015, the Chamber launched the Veterans Honor Roll initiative, focused on incentivizing the increased hiring of veterans in the San Diego region.

The Chamber is also on the Governing Council of zero8Hundred. This resource proactively links transitioning military families to a broad range of resources and opportunities in the community, helping them successfully transition to civilian life. zero8Hundred will become a national model for effectively connecting transitioning service members and their families to comprehensive resources to support employment, education, health, and personal connections through a personal veteran navigator trained in social work and counseling.

The Chamber realizes that merely facilitating employment opportunities for men and women of the military is not enough to support them re-entering civilian life. That’s why we provided funding for research that told us what veterans need. This research, led by the national Vets’ Community Connections (VCC) project goes the extra step to providing the literal connections to their neighborhood. In this project, the Chamber will lead the business community in identifying how they can engage, what they can do, and how they can better understand the role our veterans play. San Diego is one of only three pilot cities to launch the VCC in the United States.

These initiatives will examine the policies that have been, and continue to be, a hurdle to veteran hiring, or veterans transitioning into civilian life, and highlight solutions.

Additionally, the Chamber has:

  • Supported the Veteran Employment Transition (VETS) Act (Peters)
  • Sponsored a Veteran Homelessness Summit with key stakeholders in San Diego working to coordinate service delivery and examine comprehensive, solution-focused data.

How to get involved

Supporting Information

News Coverage

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