[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 197 (Monday, December 19, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Page S7306]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     RECOGNIZING DARN TOUGH VERMONT

  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, veterans make a valuable addition to any 
workplace. Vermont companies know this, which is why most employers in 
the State do their best to recruit former servicemembers. But some go 
far beyond others in their commitment to employing veterans. Darn Tough 
Vermont is one such company. Since the Darn Tough brand was created in 
2004, consumer interest in the company's famous socks has steadily 
grown. This is because of the dependability and durability their 
products are known for. But the nearly 500 employees at Darn Tough, a 
disproportionately high amount of which are veterans, are what ensures 
this reputation.
  Darn Tough has always been committed to hiring veterans whenever 
possible. As a trusted supplier of the military, the company 
understands why it is former servicemembers stand apart from others 
when it comes to reliability, team orientation, and performing under 
stress. They know that hiring a veteran is not only a good thing to do; 
it is an excellent investment for an employer to make. This is why more 
than 7 percent of employees hired by Darn Tough over the last calendar 
year were veterans.
  In November, the U.S. Department of Labor recognized Darn Tough for 
its commitment to hiring veterans by awarding them a 2022 HIRE Vets 
Medallion ``gold tier'' Award. The award is given to a company who can 
show that 7 percent of the people it hired in a calendar year are 
veterans. It can also be awarded to companies who retain more than 75 
percent of their annual veteran hires for 12 months or more. Darn Tough 
exceeded the Labor Department's award criteria in both of these areas. 
Meeting these benchmarks is doubly impressive, considering veterans 
make up only 4.7 percent of Vermont's civilian labor pool.
  I am always heartened when I learn of a Vermont business who receives 
honors for so clearly integrating Vermont's values into their 
operations, which is why I would like to recognize Darn Tough Vermont 
for leading the State in veteran's hiring and receiving the U.S. 
Department of Labor's 2022 HIRE Vets Medallion Award. Their commitment 
to producing the finest products and their demonstrated dedication to 
veterans make this company one truly worthy of our praise.
  I ask unanimous consent that an article from VT Digger on this 
achievement be printed into the Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                            [From VT Digger]

   Darn Tough Vermont, the Northfield Sock Manufacturer, Is Getting 
    Recognition for Its Commitment to Hiring and Retaining Military 
                                Veterans

       ``It's just good to be around more people that are 
     veterans,'' said Jim Decker, chief technology officer at Darn 
     Tough.
       Decker, who has worked for the company since 2019, served 
     in the U.S. Army from 1985 to 1989. He joined Darn Tough in 
     2019, when the company employed about 185 people. The company 
     has experienced explosive growth in the last three years, and 
     it employs nearly 500 people now, he said.
       Last month, Darn Tough was awarded a 2022 HIRE Vets 
     Medallion Award from the U.S. Labor Department. Darn Tough is 
     the only Vermont company to have earned the award in the four 
     years that it has been presented.
       The awards are based on the percentage of workers hired and 
     retained who are military veterans. To earn the ``gold'' tier 
     award, the company had to show that 7% of the people it hired 
     in a calendar year were veterans.
       ``And that's not an easy mark to make, because the overall 
     national percentage of veterans is 5.4%,'' said Randall 
     Smith, director of the Labor Department's HIRE Vets Medallion 
     program. In Vermont, veterans account for 4.7% of the 
     civilian labor force, Smith said.
       One goal of the award, Smith said, is to let veterans know 
     about companies that do an especially good job of hiring and 
     retaining veterans. The program posts a map of awardees.
       Lawrence Forsyth, veterans services coordinator at the 
     Vermont Department of Labor, estimated that Vermont has about 
     40,000 veterans, many of them older veterans of World War II, 
     the Korean War and the Vietnam War.
       He said the small number of veterans in Vermont, compounded 
     by the fact that it does not have an active military post, 
     makes it hard for employers to hire veterans.
       However, Forsyth said, veterans are ``adaptive. They're 
     resilient. They're very team-oriented and they perform under 
     stress. Why wouldn't someone want to hire them?''
       Forsyth said he goes four times a year to a recruiting 
     event at Fort Drum in New York to persuade people leaving the 
     military, as well as veterans living there, to move to 
     Vermont. He said he works in partnership with the Vermont 
     State Police, the Vermont National Guard and the Vermont Air 
     National Guard to recruit people leaving active-duty military 
     service.
       Forsyth encourages businesses interested in attracting 
     people leaving the armed services to visit the website for 
     Skilllsridge, a U.S. Department of Defense program that pays 
     for internships for up to 160 days, which ``could turn into a 
     full-time job,'' he said.
       He said he has placed five veterans through that program in 
     the past two years.
       One way Darn Tough retains the veterans it hires is by 
     identifying the skills they bring from their military 
     service, said Jennifer No, the company's talent acquisition 
     recruiter.
       ``What we do internally is we continue to build on those 
     skills and develop them to positions like the (chief 
     technology officer),'' No said.
       Businesses could also earn the ``gold'' award by retaining 
     75% of the veterans they hired in a calendar year for 12 
     months or more, Smith said. Forsyth said Darn Tough excels in 
     retention, in addition to recruitment.
       ``They're always a go-to organization that I send people 
     to,'' he said.]

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