Governor Stein Proclaims Employ A Veteran Week

Employ A Veteran Week

2026

By The Governor Of The State Of North Carolina

A Proclamation

Whereas, North Carolina is home to more than 700,000 veterans, whose technical skills, strong work ethic, leadership, and experience as members of our military make them an invaluable segment of the workforce in a wide variety of high-demand fields; and

Whereas, North Carolina has a strong partnership with the Jobs for Veterans State Grants (JVSG) program through the U.S. Department of Labor, which supports employment and training services provided by professionals based at NCWorks Career Centers across the state; and

Whereas, North Carolina, the top-ranked state for workforce development in 2026, continues to build opportunity for veterans, with tools that include the NCWorks Veterans Portal, located at veterans.ncworks.gov; and

Whereas, the North Carolina Department of Commerce, the North Carolina Department of Military and Veterans Affairs, North Carolina For Military Employment (NC4ME), and other organizations collaborate to connect veterans with employers in alignment with Goal 4 of North Carolina’s “First in Opportunity Strategic Economic Development Plan” to build a resilient and future-ready workforce through unified statewide coordination; and

Whereas, employment services are among the resources provided to participants in North Carolina’s nationally recognized Veterans Treatment Courts, which enhance public safety while promoting reentry and rehabilitation for veterans with barriers to employment; and

Whereas, the Governor’s Council on Workforce and Apprenticeships, housed within the NCWorks Commission, has included among its goals outreach to under-tapped talent pools such as veterans and their families; and

Whereas, the State of North Carolina benefits from the service of numerous veterans as state employees and grants employment preference to veterans who served during a period of war, spouses of active-duty service members, spouses of disabled veterans, spouses or dependents of deceased veterans, and eligible National Guard members; and

Whereas, as part of our commitment to being the most veteran- and military-friendly state in the nation, the State of North Carolina celebrated a record number of companies receiving the federal HIRE Vets Medallion Award in 2025 and encourages businesses to provide employment opportunities to veterans already in the workforce and those transitioning to civilian life;

Now, Therefore, I, Josh Stein, Governor of the State of North Carolina, do hereby proclaim November 9 – 13, 2026, as “Employ A Veteran Week” in North Carolina and commend its observance.

In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and affixed the Great Seal of the State of North Carolina at the Capitol in Raleigh this twenty-sixth day of October in the year of our Lord two thousand and twenty-sixth and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and fifty-first.