Washington Senator Patty Murray was part of a panel that met recently at General Plastics in Tacoma to discuss how businesses can better help veterans.

The meeting was part of Murray's continuing efforts to help veterans find gainful employment and was in line with President Obama's recent signing of the VOW to Hire Heroes Act, which is intended to lower unemployment among veterans.

"Right now about 10 percent of our staff are veterans, and we want that number to go higher," said Ed Stan, marketing director for General Plastics. "With so many military moving into civilian life right now, this is a great time to hire those men and women."

That is exactly the sort of mentality that Murray wants to hear. "I talk to businesses all over the nation about what they're doing to help this situation, and that's why I am here today," said Murray, who chairs the Senate Veterans' Affairs committee.

"We like to hire veterans because of the training they've gotten and their proven ability to lead. That, combined with the tax credits we receive, means that it increases productivity and decreases costs," explained Kirk Lider, General Plastic's vice president. "They have a head start on everyone else in the job market."

Former Servicemembers were also on hand to explain their own experience with job searches, transitional career training and even concerns about discrimination when completing applications.

"As a country, we train them (in the military), then we thank them for their service and send them on their way without realizing the valuable investment that we've lost out on," Murray said. "Then, too often, they have trouble explaining how their military service prepared them for other work."

She went on to praise programs local to Joint Base Lewis-McChord, like Clover Park Technical College, Peninsula College and Workforce Central, all of which actively work on assisting veterans with job training, job placement and further schooling or certifications.

"We ask that you keep fighting hard for this funding and continue to champion this cause," said Linda Nguyen, CEO of Workforce Central in Tacoma-Pierce County. "It is so important and can do so much good."

Murray responded that she plans to keep doing her part, but reminded everyone that it also takes public and private partnerships like these to make it a success.