There are 4 major development projects that are planned for Philadelphia over the next several years. These projects include the construction and ultimate hiring and staffing of:

The new Comcast Tower, the hotel/apartment complex on South Broad Street, the new Mormon Headquarters and the entire Market East development.

These projects may very well receive federal, state and local tax breaks and or taxpayer money to assist in the financing of these projects. If that happens, and I believe it will, then the hiring of military veterans need to be part of any hiring or staffing discussion. To get these tax incentives these projects must hire QUALIFIED veterans. Understanding the reality of hiring in Philadelphia, there should be a percentage of hires that must be veterans in order for any entity associated with these projects to receive any tax dollars or tax incentives. There must also be strict compliance procedures included to ensure these hires do happen. One has to believe there will be thousands of jobs that will result as a result of these projects. The can be no rational reason that a percentage of these hires should not be qualified military veterans, especially with the skill sets and real-world work experience they will bring to the workplace. These men and women veterans are members of the best-educated, best-trained and most technically advanced military the world has ever known.

Philadelphia has declared 2014 as the Year of the Veteran. Our veterans don’t need more data-gathering and analysis as to what the issues are concerning them. They don’t need more workshops. They need jobs and these projects will be hiring. We need those who control the tax purse strings and the tax dollars to ensure our veterans are part of these projects. There can be no excuse for them not to be.

Joe Eastman