Pushing for Quality Jobs for Veterans at Proposed Las Vegas Stadium Development Project

      The National Football League’s Raiders franchise may be coming to Las Vegas!  Yes, your heard right.  Las Vegas may become home to the storied silver and black that currently are Oakland’s home team.  Nevada’s role in this dramatic move is whether its legislature will vote, this week, to commit $750 million dollars of public funding toward the proposed $1.9 billion domed stadium near the Las Vegas Strip.  If the public funding is approved, the only remaining hurdle is whether NFL owners will vote to support the move. 

     Interestingly, local veterans, including myself, have been engaged in the process to ensure veterans are on the radar for every stage of the project…from stadium construction to its operation. This will be a marathon effort that starts with a single step, tomorrow.

      Nevada’s veterans see this as a golden opportunity.  In some respects, any initiative that offers potential employment opportunities for veterans is a good thing.  With the Pentagon’s scaling back troop levels across the Armed Services, thousands of veterans every month are transitioning into the workforce looking for employment opportunities.  I’m always encouraged when there are opportunities where veterans can find gainful employment.

      Too often, however, high-profile commitments to veteran hiring tend to relegate veterans to entry-level positions or leftover ‘scraps’ for veteran contracting businesses.  Most veterans and veteran businesses can deliver skills and attributes that qualify them for more skilled jobs with higher pay and greater contributions. However, many times, veterans are denied the opportunity for fair consideration for the roles they desire...and deserve.

     That’s why I am pleased to have been invited to join forces with a veterans’ group that is focused on working with state legislatures to recognize the value of veteran businesses and individual veteran employment opportunities when public funds are in play. One of the areas I’ll be looking to influence is a commitment for a percentage of jobs and contracts to be made available to warriors and their businesses.  I’m hoping that I can educate Nevada legislators, NFL team ownership, and the coalition of stadium project’s investors on the unique skills and assets that veterans can deliver to the stadiums construction and operation.

     I have interviewed experts across the nation who have studied similar issues regarding veterans’ and the civilian sector.  Many concluded there is a trend for civilian organizations to see veterans as broken or victims of combat, instead of focusing on the positive attributes that they bring to the table.

     If this effort is successful, Nevada legislators will not permit state contractors or the NFL to assign veterans and veteran businesses menial work.  Instead, the Las Vegas Stadium will be the model for veterans and veteran businesses to reap the benefits they richly deserve.