CVS Health Opens Employment And Training Facility To Serve Fort Bragg Military Community

WOONSOCKET, R.I., July 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- CVS Health [NYSE:CVS] today announced the opening of the company's Talent Connect Center (TCC) to serve the Fort Bragg, NC military community. This innovative employment and training facility will be dedicated to helping veterans and their families transition from military life to private sector civilian careers.

The Talent Connect Center (TCC) is part of the newly dedicated Fort Bragg Career Resource Center which, in partnership with Columbia Southern Education Group, serves as an employment, skills-focused facility and connects service members who are transitioning off active duty with companies who can provide training and employment. The TCC combines state-of-the-art virtual reality technology with hands-on support to help veterans and their spouses throughout the human resources process, from resume assistance and simulated interviewing practice to speaking with leaders of various departments to learn about the many opportunities within the company. CVS Health will be one of approximately 20 companies with training centers within the Career Resource Center.

"By 2020 the health care industry will need a projected 5.6 million highly-skilled workers, like our veterans, necessary to compete and grow and there is no reason why we can't 'connect' the two," said Lisa Bisaccia, Executive Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer, CVS Health. "The Talent Connect Center is designed to expertly walk veterans through the expanded opportunities at CVS Health, which extend past retail and into distribution, IT and nursing, providing a gateway into high-demand, good paying fields."

Equipped with video conferencing technology to serve and reach military and CVS Health personnel beyond Fort Bragg, the TCC will offer training in the Army Career Skills Program (ACSP) for management, retail and logistics. The ACSP allows active duty soldiers within 180 days from separation from the military to train in an interested career field.

CVS Health has established a long history of recruiting, hiring, training and retaining veterans to build a pipeline of workforce talent. Since 2015, the company has hired almost 8,000 people with military experience and more than 2,300 military spouses.

Leo Trimble, who served in the U.S. Army for 21 years as a Signal Support Technician, said CVS Health took steps to ease his transition when he applied for a job at the end of his service.

"When I first made the decision to leave the military, I was all over the place on what to do next," said Trimble, now a Field Support Technician for CVS Health. "I was drawn to CVS Health because they helped me to identify IT opportunities that allowed me to continue to do what I love. I wouldn't change where I am today for anything."

On average, enlisted service members have been leaving the U.S. military at a rate of roughly 200,000 each year, and the U.S. Department of Defense estimates the rate will remain high through 2019.

"As a new generation of service men and women come home, we owe them every opportunity to live the American Dream that they helped to defend," said David Casey, VP, Workforce Strategies and Chief Diversity Officer, CVS Health who also served as a U.S. Marine Corps Sergeant in Operation Desert Storm. "The Talent Connect Center is dedicated to helping to make the transition process easier for veterans through in-person and virtual skill-building, training and mentoring, and to create an environment that values diversity, leadership and working collaboratively."

CVS Health supports our nation's military in many ways. Through a partnership between MinuteClinic, the company's retail medical clinic, and the Department of Veterans Affairs, veterans in Phoenix, AZ are able to access high quality care and treatment of minor illnesses and injuries at the walk-in clinic. The Company also provides charitable support to military and veteran-focused organizations, including the National Guard, Fisher House, Operation Homefront, Operation Military Embrace, Operation Reinvent, ThanksUSA and the USO. CVS Health's colleague resource group Valor is comprised of over 500 colleagues with a passion to serve those who have served our country.