A new incentive for hiring out-of-work veterans

By Nicole Lucht

Friday, July 10, 2009 | 3 a.m.

A recent expansion of the federal Work Opportunity Tax Credit rewards employers who hire jobless veterans.

The Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce and Rep. Dina Titus, D-Nev., were promoting the tax credit shortly before the Fourth of July.

“We can honor our soldiers not only by providing them with what they need out in the field, but also when they come home,” Titus said. “We want to get the word out so that we can see it used in this state and get our veterans back to work.”

For veterans returning from Iraq or Afghanistan, it’s especially difficult to find work, she said. Unemployment is twice the national average for veterans, she said. Nationwide, joblessness among veterans 20 to 24 years old is more than 15 percent.

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act expanded the work credit to include veterans who left the military not more than five years from the hiring date and have been collecting jobless benefits for at least four weeks in the year preceding the veteran’s hire.

Businesses that have hired a qualified veteran from Jan. 1 to July 16 have until Aug. 17 to file with the Internal Revenue Service to claim the credit. Employers who hire veterans after July 16 have 28 days from the date of hire to file for the credit.

Businesses can write off up to 40 percent of the first $6,000 of the veteran’s salary.

The tax credit provides $2,400, in addition to the ability to write off the expense of the payroll, an added incentive.

“We all appreciate the sacrifice that our men and women in uniform make,” Las Vegas Chamber Chairman Steven Hill said. “I think we would all agree that we would like that sacrifice to end once they come back home. Obviously, that has not been the case. The economy has not been helping us.”

William Anton, Nevada adjutant for the Disabled American Veterans, applauded the tax credit.

“(Veterans) will come to work, they know how to be on time and they’ll give you more than you can get, just from the normal labor pool,” he said. “This is a great incentive because small businesses and veterans at the same time will benefit from this incentive.”

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During the news conference promoting the tax credit, Titus announced a $170,000 grant for an organization that helps homeless vets find work.

Shalimar Cabrera, local director of the United States Veterans Initiative for U.S. Vets, accepted the grant on behalf of the organization.

“The real meat-and-potatoes of (U.S. Vets) is that we are a back-to-work program,” she said. “Helping veterans get back to work really should be our priority.”

U.S. Vets outreach has noted increasing numbers of veterans living on the streets, she said. U.S. Vets also provides housing and support services to veterans.

“It’s really dramatic and the greatest number of them are recently separated veterans. The No. 1 reason for their becoming homeless is unemployment.”

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The fifth annual National Veteran Small Business Conference & Expo is July 20-23 at Caesars Palace.

Retired Gen. Eric Shinseki, secretary of Veterans Affairs, is among the conference’s speakers.

In other news:

MGM Mirage was recognized by Black Enterprise magazine as among the 40 best companies for diversity. The company was the only Nevada-based firm to earn the honor.

Other companies to make the list were Sempra Energy of San Diego, Northern Trust Corp. of Chicago, United Parcel Service, FedEx, and General Mills.

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For the third year, Nevada Federal Credit Union has been named one of the 50 best small and medium companies to work for in America by the Society for Human Resource Management and the Great Places to Work Institute.

Nevada Federal placed No. 21 and was the only credit union to make the list, as well as the only company from Nevada.

Companies were evaluated based on employees’ responses to a questionnaire about their organization’s workplace culture.

Nicole Lucht covers health care, workplace, energy and banking issues for In Business Las Vegas. She can be reached at 259-8832 or at [email protected].