New training center shows commitment to veterans, official says

Several prominent people spoke at Tuesday’s opening of a new veterans training center, but the man who built it may have best summed up what the center is all about.

The last person to speak was David Cyr, president of Parrish Construction Group. He told the audience of about 250 people that his company has changed as a result of the project.

When they got the contract to build it, he said, company leaders decided to get in the spirit by looking at ways to hire more veterans. Since then, Parrish has hired three veterans, and Cyr said they have all worked out well, even if they didn’t have experience in the job they were given.

“They bring character,” he said. “They bring a can-do attitude. They bring that integrity. We can teach them everything else.”

One of the vets he hired is Ben Simmons, who was at the ceremony. Cyr said Simmons has taken on so many varied management jobs for the company that he has become known as the “Swiss army knife.”

Simmons, who retired from the Air Force in 2011 as a senior master sergeant, said he found it tough to get a job in the civilian world. He tried truck driving and that didn’t work out but, he said he has found a home at Parrish.

The veterans training center can help military members with that transition, he said.

“I applied to four different colleges before I found one that gave me what I thought was fair credit for my training in the military,” he said.

The center has been named the Veterans Education Career Transition Resource Center, or VECTR. It is 32,000 square feet and includes computer labs and an industrial lab.

Its aim is to help veterans, active duty military members and their immediate family make the transition to civilian life. The center will help veterans with education benefits and make sure they get proper credit for training they may have had in the military.

It was funded by $10 million from the Georgia General Assembly. Middle Georgia State University owns the building and will offer programs in conjunction with Central Georgia Technical College.

“If there is any doubt remaining about how committed the state of Georgia is to our veterans, this facility should erase any of that concern,” said Hank Huckaby, chancellor of the University System of Georgia.

The center, which has 10 full-time employees, is located at 1001 S. Armed Forces Blvd., behind Huntington Middle School. The city of Warner Robins donated the land for it. It will serve veterans throughout the state. An open house for the general public is being planned.

The Department of Veterans Affairs office at Warner Robins City Hall that helps veterans with benefits has moved to the center.

The center’s phone number is 478-218-3900. The website is www.gavectr.org. Classes are expected to start Aug. 17.

This story was originally published August 2, 2016 at 4:49 PM with the headline "New training center shows commitment to veterans, official says."