The University of South Florida is one of only 50 campuses in the nation that hosts ROTC programs for the Army, Marine Corps, Navy and the Air Force - all four branches on one college campus. Annually, its Office of Veteran Success serves 7,500+ student veterans and their dependents with benefits processing, peer tutoring, and career-professional development. The OVS staff helping them are veterans and dependents themselves. It's no surprise that this Chamber Member is ranked one of the top veteran-friendly campuses in the country - 1st in Florida and 4th among all four-year U.S institutions by the Military Times in 2020. On March 1, the USF team added another layer to its already extensive military services programming, hosting its first ever Military Connected Spouse Career Seminar. Our Chamber Members were honored to be a part of that moment.
"We have such a large population of military family members that are studying here at USF that we wanted to have specially targeted programming for military spouses," explained Dennis Mont'Ros, "Because of our great working relationship with the Tampa Bay Chamber, I decided to open this up to more than our USF Connected students," said the Care & Career Coordinator of the Office of Veteran Success.
Mont'Ros worked to create a learning and safe space where military spouses or military-connected adults could converse about career opportunities and navigate the work challenges of frequent moves, deployments, and more. Asking for help isn't always easy, so Mont'Ros left nothing to chance. The panel of speakers chosen had stories similar to those of the guests in the room. With help from Chamber Vice President Katie Lopez and our Military Advisory Committee, the panel was assembled, and 2 of the 3 subject experts were Chamber Members. Our thanks to Kerry Irvin of Operation Healing Forces and Kelly Douglas of Douglas & Yates for giving of their time and talents. Joining them on the panel was Ayako Erickson, a participant in Hiring Our Heroes' Military Spouse Career Accelerator pilot program. Lopez served as the moderator.
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The panel discussion with military spouses/entrepreneurs, was followed by a group session with experts on resumes and LinkedIn, and one-on-one time with those experts after lunch.
"This is strongly applicable material and I love watching the spouses already networking," said Mont'Ros during a break in the program. "We have our scope and connection to USF alumni and that’s part of the greater fabric that overlaps with the Chamber’s scope. Being able to leverage our mutual affinities and talents amplifies what we can do for the community. This is not the first time we’ve collaborated with the Military Affairs Committee and it certainly won’t be the last."
The Tampa Bay Chamber has been serving the region since 1885, supporting the military community since the arrival of MacDill Air Force Base in the 1940s. Today, the military community has a $3Billion impact on the local economy. The Chamber’s Military Advisory Committee supports military readiness, advocates for legislative priorities to enhance the quality of life for military families and connects the business community with military talent to address workforce needs in the region. This collaboration with the USF Office of Veteran Success is one of the many ways the Chamber works with partners to serve the military community in Tampa Bay.
Mont'Ros is a military veteran himself, a retired Senior Master Sergeant of the Air Force. He joined the team at USF's Officer of Veteran Success in 2022.