NORFOLK, Va. — The Hampton Roads Workforce Council renamed its Veterans Employment Center (HRVEC), rebranding the office as the Center for Military and Family Advancement to better reflect all of the people it serves.
The workforce council announced the change Monday. The center serves not only veterans, but also military spouses, other family members and military-connected people.
Over eight years of existence, the center reports having connected nearly 2,500 people looking for work to employers. More than 1,700 of those connections led to hires.
Despite serving that broader population, the center's name did not connect with its mission, according to Sultan Camp, a veteran and Senior Director of the Center for Military and Family Advancement.
"A lot of the folks, when they saw Veterans Employment Center, especially our military spouses, didn't feel like they qualified to come to the centers, and our military-connected young adults as well, so the new name is more inclusive, and it really captures the scope of what we do in terms of engaging with our military families," Camp said.
Tyrone Hyman, a U.S. Navy veteran and national trainer for CSL Plasma, is among those the center has helped. He spoke at the announcement inside Norfolk's Dominion Tower Monday morning.
"I went from the top of the year, not wanting to be on this earth anymore to now I'm making a little over $80,000 doing a job I was trained to do in the military that I can do now for the rest of my life," Hyman said.
The Center for Military and Family Advancement will keep its offices on Glenrock Road in Norfolk and Thimble Shoals Boulevard in Newport News.
Camp said veterans and military-connected job seekers only have to walk in to start the process of finding work. Though the rebrand is expected to take time, the center's website was already updated on Monday.
Camp stresses the mission isn't only to make sure families find jobs, but convince them to stay in Hampton Roads and help build the regional economy — the overall goal of the Hampton Roads Workforce Council.
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