HOMESTEAD, Fla. — Michael J. Uremovich, 2011 national chairman of the Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC), and Bill Nelson, executive director of USA Cares, a non-profit dedicated to assisting post-9/11 military veterans and their families, joined First Lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden, along with thousands of military families and supporters, to promote training and jobs for U.S. veterans at the Ford 400 NASCAR race in Homestead, Fla.

“We are passionate about putting our veterans to work,” Uremovich said. “We can think of no finer calling than to help those men and women who have served our country in defending our liberty and freedom than to help train them for a meaningful career,” he said. “The merit shop construction industry is ready to welcome them with open arms.”

“We are thrilled that soldiers will be able to come home as the mission in Iraq winds down, but with the status of the current job market, our nation’s warriors are facing difficulties in finding work,” said Nelson. “The 260,000 Iraq and Afghanistan veterans currently out of work reflect unemployment rates that are almost twice that of the national average.”

The ABC and USA Cares relationship will facilitate classroom instruction and on-the-job training of veterans in order for them to become construction professionals in crafts such as welding. Veterans that enter the craft training program will be guaranteed a job after they successfully complete their course work. The two organizations have pledged to train 1,000 veterans in 2012.

For more information, visit www.abc.org.

Publication date: 11/28/2011