FORT LEWIS, Wash. - A nonprofit organization is teaming up with locally based corporations to improve the lives of soldiers - specifically their prospects for jobs once they leave the service.

Hire America's Heroes is working hard to provide employment opportunities for injured and disabled veterans. This newly formed organization is made up of leaders from corporations committed to making a better future for the men and women serving our country.

Hire America's Heroes was formed in May.

"We are focused on how the corporate world can reach out to soldiers," explained Marjorie James, president of Hire America's Heroes. "We want to spend more time learning about the goals and aspirations of soldiers and how we can be of service to help them now that they have different capabilities than before their injuries and how we can help open doors."

James said her company is dedicated to ensuring that America's corporations - the Fortune 1,000 in particular - are prepared and motivated to employ exiting service members. This preparation is accomplished through symposia that bring together leaders in the military and in corporations, along with government and nonprofit partners, to promote learning and relationship-building that facilitates employment opportunities for exiting service members.

"Half of our job is working with corporations, and the other half is working with soldiers. Corporations don't understand what soldiers have been doing while in the military - how the skills and abilities soldiers have developed fit with their company's position requirements.  And soldiers often don't know how to approach a job search in a corporation - in particular how to compete with college graduates for these jobs. Lacking this skill limits a soldier's employment options.  Hire America's Heroes works with corporations to design job descriptions that open opportunities to prior military applicants. We are working with corporations to develop Bridge Programs for exiting military service members," said James.

Some of the corporations involved with Hire America's Heroes include staffing companies that have the ability to help open doors for soldiers, disabled or not.

Hire America's Heroes will host a "Hire a Hero Reunion" Thursday, Nov. 15, for people and companies who attended last year's symposium on helping exiting soldiers find civilian jobs that match their skill sets. Participants will reconvene and share lessons learned, best practices developed, new programs generated, and success stories.

"Details regarding the event are still under development, but we do know that an important component of the event will focus on soldiers who have been severely wounded or disabled through the Global War on Terror," said James.

The nonprofit organization hopes to bring in more Pacific Northwest companies to work more closely with the military to develop complimentary programs for employing disabled veterans. The organization would also like to explore how it can take this program to other cities so that exiting service members who aren't from the Pacific Northwest will have these opportunities when they return to their homes of record.

"We need to do this in other states. I think there is so much we can do," said James.

For more information, contact James by e-mail at mjames@volt.com or call (425) 702-9000.