The Advisory Committee on Veterans’ Employment, Training, and Employer Outreach (ACVETEO) was created to replace the Advisory Committee on Veterans Employment and Training (ACVET). The ACVET statute was amended to reflect new outreach duties assigned to the Assistant Secretary for Veterans’ Employment and Training and to change the composition of the advisory body.

The first meeting of the committee will be May 15, 2007 at DOL in Washington, D.C. The ACVETEO is responsible for assessing the employment and training needs of veterans and their integration into the workforce and determining the extent to which the programs and activities of the Department of Labor are meeting these needs. The Committee will also assist in carrying out relevant outreach to employers seeking to hire and learn more about veterans’ employment opportunities. The law requires the Committee to meet quarterly, make recommendations and submit an annual report to the Secretary and the Congress. Members were appointed to the committee for a two-year term, effective March 28, 2007.

The statutory composition of this new Committee recognized the importance of the ACVET, as well as the success of the President’s National Hire Veterans Committee and the Hire Vets First Campaign. The ACVETEO must consist of at least 12, but no more than 15, individuals appointed by the Secretary of Labor. These individuals represent veterans’ service organizations, business, employment, training, labor, state workforce agencies, the national governors association, rehabilitation and ex-officio members representing the Secretaries of Veterans Affairs and Defense, the Director of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), the Assistant Secretaries of Labor for Veterans Employment & Training and Employment and Training Administration as well as the Administrator of the Small Business Administration.