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Supporting Sacrifice and Giving Back
Hal Blackman • Nov 21, 2019
Hanging with Hal
Chester Nimitz, fleet admiral of the United States Navy, played a major role during World War II and the battle for the Pacific on land, sea, and air. He once said, “Some of the best advice I’ve had comes from junior officers and enlisted men.” This month we observe Veterans Day and pay tribute to all American veterans, living or dead, but especially those living veterans who served during war or peacetime. I am proud of both of my sons who graduated from the Naval Academy and served with honor. I am proud of all of our men and women who served, and especially those who are now employees of IST. Thank you for your service!
As part of our way of giving back, IST is involved with several programs to help both veterans and military spouses on the career front. Through the efforts of Hannah Wells and Sydney Ayers we developed the GEMS
program which stands for “Gainful Employment for Military Spouses.” This program is designed to hire military spouses. With our operations in 40+ cities nationally and nearly 2,000 positions, this program is a perfect match since military spouses are often transferred to different parts of the country. Since IST is completely standardized in our field operations, employees can transfer to different sites without skipping a beat. The IST’s GEMS program offers military spouses flexible, portable, and secure careers no matter where military life takes them. We have hired seven military spouses throughout the country since we started the GEMS program.
There is also the Military Spouse Employment Partnership (MSEP)
developed by the U.S. Department of Defense. IST went through an intensive vetting process including an interview with a DOD representative. We were approved in January and became an official proud partner during a ceremony in October of this year. Many thanks to Hannah Wells and Sydney Ayers for their efforts in getting us approved!
Another important initiative is a program called Hiring Our Heroes (HOH). According to Hannah Wells, this program is a veteran and military spouse hiring program through the Chamber of Commerce. IST made a commitment to the HOH’s initiative in hiring 100k military spouses and we also attend many of their hiring events across the country.
To sum up, we honor all our veterans and we will continue our commitment to helping them on the career front. May you and your family have a wonderful Happy Thanksgiving. Thank you for all that you do.
Hanging with Hal
Great Strides is the main vehicle for raising donations for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. Over 125,000 people participate in walks across the country including IST. We currently have over 130 registered walkers. Our goal is to get 200 walkers and have each walker raise $200 in donations. So far, we are off to a good start.
Introducing IST's GEMS Program and the Military Spouse Employment Partnership Program.