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Virginia C apitol C onnections, Winter 2016 15
The Virginia Transition Assistance
Program, or VTAP, is a program of the
Virginia Department of Veterans Services,
a state agency that provides services to
Virginia’s nearly 800,000 veterans—over
500,000 of whom are of working age. Nearly
30,000 service members will transition out
of the military fromVirginia bases within the
next three years, and we want them to stay
in Virginia—joining Virginia’s workforce,
pursuing educational opportunities at
Virginia schools, or starting their own small businesses.
Retaining this large pool of skilled veterans will play an integral
role in economic development. Veterans are exceptional fits for jobs
in fields such as manufacturing, healthcare, information technology,
STEM and logistics—all sectors predicted to grow in the next several
years. Virginia is experiencing both a shortage and skills gap in these
fields; veterans can fill it. The Commonwealth has been working
towards utilizing certification and credentialing programs within the
Virginia Community College System (VCCS) and other educational
institutions to streamline military training and experience directly into
high-demand and well-paying jobs. And veterans have the leadership
and drive necessary to be successful entrepreneurs.
The Commonwealth of Virginia is well positioned to capitalize on
the extraordinary amount of talent coming out of the military, and that’s
whereVTAP fits in: to help connect transitioning service members and
veterans to employment, education, and entrepreneurship resources
and opportunities.
VTAP has established strong partnerships across Virginia with
federal, state, local, and private sector entities to increase opportunities
for veterans in all categories of workforce development, and has assisted
over 3,000 veterans to date; but that’s just the start. As the military
drawdown continues and Virginia’s veteran population continues to
grow, so will the need for services like VTAP to help veterans on the
path to success by connecting them to the myriad of resources that are
now or will soon be available to them. With the additional resources
proposed in the current introduced budget, VTAP will be able to meet
this demand through a more effective regional approach to the transition
needs of service members and veterans. Additionally, VTAP staff will
be better positioned to provide services in areas of the Commonwealth
that are not proximate to an active duty military installation. With the
continued investment in key veteran programs like VTAP, Virginia will
continue to be the most veteran friendly state in the nation!
Virginia’s government and industry leaders realized early on
that Virginia needed to take proactive measures to keep veterans in
the Commonwealth after they’ve taken off their uniforms. Through
such partnerships as the Virginia Values Veterans (V3) Program,
Virginia employers are hiring, training and retaining veterans across
the Commonwealth. Many other initiatives are underway or have
been proposed, including a new VCCS workforce portal, a program
at George Mason University to help veterans prepare for careers in
cybersecurity, and placement of dedicated veteran resource advisors
on VCCS campuses. Virginia is competing with other states for these
valuable employees; it’s an economic imperative that we convince
them to stay in the Commonwealth.
Jobs are going unfilled in key industries here in Virginia. In order
to overcome this, we must continue investment in new programs and
resources to attract veterans and transitioning service members to our
state. We need solutions that both inform them of the opportunities
available to them in Virginia and connect them to those opportunities
make a direct impact on the lives of our veterans and on our
Commonwealth’s bottom line. VTAP is part of that solution!
Allen is an Army Veteran with five years of service in the Logistics
Corps, serving tours of duty in Kaiserslautern, Germany and Ft.
Lee, VA. He served in various capacities to include command staff
positions and small unit leadership. Allen now manages the Virginia
Transition Assistance Program serving the Transitioning Service
Members and Veterans of the Commonwealth.
The Virginia Transition Assistance Program (VTAP)
Connecting Veterans and Transitioning Service
Members to Opportunities and Resources
By Allen Fryman, Program Coordinator
Blue Ridge PBS -WBRA (Roanoke, Lynchburg)—Fridays at 7:30 p.m.,
Sunday at 2:30 p.m. • Tuesday at 7 p.m.
Southwest Virginia PTV
Monday at 6:30 a.m. & 8:30 p.m. • Tuesday at 11:00 a.m. • Friday at Noon
WCVE 23.1 (Richmond)—Sunday at 9 a.m.
WHTJ 41.1 (Charlottesville)—Sunday at 9 a.m.
WVPT (Harrisonburg)—Tuesday at 5 p.m.
WHRO-World (Norfolk)—Tuesday at 5 p.m. • Thursday at 5:30 p.m.
Norfolk’s Neighborhood Network, TV-48—Sunday through Tuesday,
12 noon • Wednesday through Saturday, 7:30 a.m.
Weekly show information is on Facebook—THIS WEEK IN RICHMOND
All shows are archived here: V I E W I N G
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