Building on a model pioneered by SVA with Raytheon, some of the largest companies in America to provide information, mentoring, and opportunities to veterans

Washington, D.C. – Student Veterans of America (SVA) and twenty-three other founding members consisting of some of America’s largest companies launched the Business and Industry Roundtable today. This coalition of enterprises is committed to providing employment opportunities to student veterans using education as a transition strategy, and bringing together diverse employee resource groups and student veterans nationwide. Many corporations' recruiters focus on veterans as they leave the military, while this collaboration offers companies a link to veterans with college degrees. A first of its kind collaboration, this group of corporations is committed -- through SVA -- to engage directly with the 100,000 annual graduating veterans, providing a personal pipeline to corporate expertise in how to find and pursue career opportunities. They will build strong networks, mentoring relationships and will engage with SVA’s over 1,500 chapters.
 
Including Raytheon, the founding members of the Roundtable are Accenture, Aetna, Amazon, BASF, Booz Allen Hamilton, Comcast NBCUniversal, Deloitte, Edelman, Edward Jones, First Data, Gartner, General Dynamics, JPMorgan Chase & Co., LinkedIn, LMI, Lockheed Martin, Meijer, Microsoft, Nestle, Prudential/PGIM, PwC and USAA.
 
“Veteran support is a major part of Raytheon’s culture, with more than 10,000 former service members contributing to the company’s success,” said Pam Erickson, Raytheon VP of Global Branding and Corporate Citizenship. “We’ve partnered with SVA to help transform student veterans’ educational pathways, and help them see how those pathways tie to their career opportunities -- particularly in high-demand fields like science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Our goal is to help today’s veterans connect their service to rewarding civilian careers.”
 
Student Veterans of America is the largest chapter-based, student centric organization in higher education, and the third largest Veteran Service Organization. SVA regularly engages with its business and industry partners to promote informed decision making by student veterans, to, through and beyond higher education, in an effort to inform them of what companies’ value related to degrees, college choice, experiential education, and more.
 
“Employers across the country have recognized the skills, leadership, and commitment to mission that student veterans bring to the table. Using a holistic corporate citizenship and workforce pipeline creation strategy, SVA is working closely with Raytheon and our committed Roundtable partners to ensure that tens of thousands of talented student veterans have direct access to knowledge and information that lead to positions in high growth, high demand sectors of our economy once they enter the workforce,” said SVA’s President and CEO Jared Lyon.

Business and Industry Roundtable members contribute valuable insight regarding their talent pipeline needs and what education pathways lead to the most promising career opportunities now and in the future. Our collaboration informs both student veterans’ education choices and SVA’s programming and services supporting career development. Coalition companies are also connected with SVA’s more than 1,500 chapters in all 50 states and four countries, providing enhanced access to career information and employment opportunities for their members. 

According to SVA’s groundbreaking 2017 National Veteran Education Success Tracker (NVEST) research, student veterans using the Post-9/11 GI Bill are more likely to earn academically-rigorous degrees sought after by leading public and private sector employers. For example, veterans are more likely to graduate and to attain degrees in the fields of business, health, and science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM), compared to their non-veteran student counterparts. Student veterans also earn on average a 3.35 GPA, compared to the national average of 3.11. These statistics demonstrate that student veterans are talent hiding in plain sight for companies across the country.
 
The Business and Industry Roundtable held a kick-off meeting at SVA’s 10th annual National Conference in January at the J.W. Marriott Hill Country Resort and Spa in San Antonio, Texas. Members discussed goals and programmatic needs to support the student veteran community. The Roundtable is expected to hold at least two meetings each year, and to work collaboratively with SVA, SVA chapters, and student veterans year-round to provide meaningful career and professional development opportunities.
 
Companies interested in becoming a Roundtable member and building connections to student veterans can email SVA at partnerships@studentveterans.org.

 
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About Student Veterans of America 
Student Veterans of America (SVA) is the country’s premier organization for student veterans. SVA supports all veterans through their transition from the military, educational advancement, and career growth. SVA represents a network of 1,500 chapters on campuses in all 50 states and four countries representing over 700,000 student veterans at those colleges and universities. SVA is Gold Certified by Guide Star and was named Non-Profit of the Year by HillVets. For more information, visit us at www.studentveterans.org.