Franchise.org reports that the current rate of veteran unemployment is at 12% and will drop with the signing of the Vow to Hire Heroes Act of 2011 by President Obama on November 21 at the White House.  The new law encourages businesses to hire veterans by granting tax credits to these employers.  The IFA thanked the President, First Lady and Congress for giving veterans the chance to be prime movers of the American economy.

Franchise business leaders and IFA President & CEO joined President Obama, First Lady Michelle Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and Dr. Jill Biden at a White House bill signing ceremony today for the VOW to Hire Heroes Act of 2011, as the President recognized the industry’s commitment to hire as team members and recruit as franchise business owners 75,000 veterans and their spouses and 5,000 wounded warriors by 2014.

“We are honored to join President Obama and to thank him and First Lady Michelle Obama for their leadership to help our nation’s veterans access opportunities in the civilian economy that they so clearly deserve,” said IFA President & CEO Steve Caldeira. “We need to ensure that America’s sons and daughters, who have served the nation so bravely, now can transition to stable civilian lives in which they can and should become leaders in our nation’s economy.”