The U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation announced that the Greater Columbus Georgia Chamber of Commerce has been honored by Hiring Our Heroes with the Chamber of Valor award. 

The Chamber of Valor acknowledges the contributions of local chambers, industry associations, and business development organizations that join the Hiring Our Heroes mission of finding meaningful employment for veterans, transitioning service members, and military spouses. 

"We would never be able to do the work we do without the tremendous support of local chambers and the Greater Columbus Georgia Chamber of Commerce is setting a standard for other chambers to follow," said Eric Eversole, executive director of Hiring Our Heroes and vice president at the U.S. Chamber.  

"The Greater Columbus Georgia Chamber has been instrumental in educating and influencing employers about the great value veterans and military spouses bring to the workforce." 

Chamber of Valor award recipients submitted applications to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation to be considered for the award. Applications were scored by U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation staff and honorees were awarded at the one-, two-, and three-star levels. The Greater Columbus Georgia Chamber of Commerce is a three-star Chamber of Valor award recipient. 

“Being recognized as a Chamber of Valor is just one more example of the exceptional partnership we share with Fort Benning,” said Troy Woods, Chamber Board Chair and President and CEO of TSYS. “We will continue to focus on ensuring our local veterans and their families have first-rate training and job opportunities. Thank you for honoring us and may God bless our great men and women in uniform.”

Hiring Our Heroes launched in March 2011 as a nationwide initiative to help veterans, transitioning service members, and military spouses find meaningful employment. The organization said that to date, more than 1,500 companies have hired over 25,000 veterans and military spouses as a result of more than 810 hiring fairs. 

In March 2012, the U.S. Chamber and Capital One launched Hiring 500,000 Heroes, a national campaign to engage the business community in committing to hire half a million veterans and military spouses by the end of 2014. The U.S. Chamber said that thus far, more than 1,700 businesses of all sizes have pledged to hire 474,000 heroes toward this goal. To date, 285,000 hires have been confirmed.