The City of Detroit, the Detroit Metro Convention & Visitors Bureau and the Department of Veterans Affairs announced that the National Veteran Small Business Conference  is coming to Detroit’s Cobo Center from June 25–29. This is exciting news for our fair city, and for the many, many veterans and service members in the area. In addition to the conference, the “VA for Vets” Hiring Fair will be held during the conference for veterans looking for careers in the public and private sectors.

VA Chief of Staff John Gingrich was on site at Cobo to make the announcement. “In addition to the National Veteran Small Business Conference, our Detroit Hiring Fair will provide veterans with on-the-spot job opportunities and interviews, while also offering career search classes and one-on-one counseling.”

According to the VA, last year’s expo in New Orleans drew almost 5,000, and they predict more than 6,000 will attend this year.

There are more than 704,000 veterans living in Michigan alone. How many of those people are unemployed, thanks to the economy? This is a great opportunity for these veterans to connect with the decision makers in Washington to help them with their businesses, to help them find jobs and transition from military to civilian life, to provide networking opportunities, and more. Also available will be the VetGovPartner online platform which enables networking, viewing the business profiles of all participants and identifying business opportunities with more than 400 government procurement decision makers.

Honestly, I couldn’t be more excited. “But, Amanda. Why are you excited? You’re not a veteran and you don’t own your own business!” True, all of that. I am definitely NOT military material – I’m far too soft, I cry if someone yells at me and I avoid confrontation like it’s the plague.

I am excited because I am a life-long supporter of several veteran charities, because I help support Quicken Loans VA Loan marketing efforts,  because I have nothing but the utmost respect and reverence for those who have served. My dad served in Vietnam (Troop D, 2nd Squadron, 17th Cavalry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division), and I have been raised to proudly support the men and women of the armed forces. I think that anything we can do to help veterans is our responsibility as Americans, and duty as compassionate humans.

I am excited because the National Veteran Small Business Conference and “VA for Vets” Hiring Fair will bring an estimated 6,000 people downtown to visit Detroit for 4 or 5 days to see for themselves that Detroit is pretty awesome, and a far cry from the scary blight that is presented in the media.

I am excited because the conference might open some eyes, change some perspectives and bring people back down to Detroit on a regular basis. It might help find jobs or provide enrichment to veterans who so deserve the help.

I’m looking forward to working with Quicken Loans, the VA, the Detroit Metro Convention & Visitors Bureau, and the City of Detroit to help support our veterans!

To learn more about the National Veteran Small Business Conference and “VA for Vets” Hiring Fair  visit www.nationalveteransconference.com.