{"id":295986,"date":"2014-03-26T18:20:35","date_gmt":"2014-03-26T23:20:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ktbb.com\/post\/?p=295986"},"modified":"2014-03-27T17:57:17","modified_gmt":"2014-03-27T22:57:17","slug":"veteran-and-military-growth-initiative-endorsed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/?p=295986","title":{"rendered":"Veteran and Military Growth Initiative Endorsed"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.ktbb.com\/post\/?attachment_id=295987\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-295987\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.ktbb.com\/post\/wp-content\/media\/2014\/03\/thumb_tyler-city-hall-1-150x120.jpg\" alt=\"thumb_tyler-city-hall-1\" width=\"150\" height=\"120\" class=\"alignleft size-thumbnail wp-image-295987\" \/><\/a>TYLER &#8212; The Tyler City Council Wednesday endorsed the Veteran and Military Growth Initiative to create sustainable opportunities for Veterans and their families to thrive in East Texas, according to a city press release.  On March 17, 2011, the City of Tyler, under the leadership of Mayor Barbara Bass, chartered the Veterans &#038; Community Roundtable.  Three years later, the Roundtable engages more than 150 individuals and organizations that serve Veterans, Guard\/Reserve, and military families in East Texas, according to the release.  Members focus on five key Veteran and military transition issues: employment, education, housing, healthcare, and financial\/legal services.  <!--more--> <\/p>\n<p>In May, 2013, members of the Mayor\u2019s Roundtable and the Chamber\u2019s Veterans Committee began the development of a Veterans Strategic Plan to complement Tyler\u2019s existing IGI and Tyler 1st Plans.  A small committee researched the potential, using the focus group information from the recent IGI and Tyler 1st as a barometer of wide public sentiment.  They engaged Chamber members, government agencies, businesses, members of the Veterans &#038; Community Roundtable, the Chamber\u2019s Veterans Committee, and local citizens to solicit their suggestions. <\/p>\n<p>The result of the committee\u2019s efforts was a 42-page community and economic development plan, the Veteran and Military Growth Initiative (VMGI).  The VMGI outlines more than 40 strategies and tactics for veteran-focused community growth, making what&#8217;s termed a strong case for how implementation will bring fresh dollars into Tyler\/Smith County and cement Tyler\u2019s reputation as the \u201ccapital of East Texas.\u201d  Since Jan. 6, 2014, the VMGI has received endorsements from the Veterans &#038; Community Roundtable, the Chamber\u2019s Veterans Committee, and Tyler\u2019s Leadership Roundtable.<\/p>\n<p>There are approximately 16,000 Veterans in Smith County who bring an estimated $189 million annually to the region in VA benefits, disability pensions and medical care. Some goals of the VMGI include attracting veteran-owned small businesses, creating a Veteran training academy focused on trades, expanding the VA clinic, developing Tyler Pounds Regional Airport as a Veteran business\/aviation campus, welcoming more Veteran retirees, and becoming \u201cAmerica\u2019s most Veteran friendly community.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>TYLER &#8212; The Tyler City Council Wednesday endorsed the Veteran and Military Growth Initiative to create sustainable opportunities for Veterans and their families to thrive in East Texas, according to a city press release. On March 17, 2011, the City of Tyler, under the leadership of Mayor Barbara Bass, chartered the Veterans &#038; Community Roundtable. &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/?p=295986\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Veteran and Military Growth Initiative Endorsed<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[177],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-295986","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-local-news-archive-archives"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-07-10 15:40:51","action":"change-status","newStatus":"trash","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/295986","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=295986"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/295986\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":295988,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/295986\/revisions\/295988"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=295986"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=295986"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=295986"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}