[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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