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Chappaqua's State Sen. Greg Ball To Co-Host Veterans Roundtable

CORTLANDT, N.Y. -- State Sen. Greg Ball (R,C,I-Patterson) is set to co-host a Veterans Roundtable on Saturday, March 1. 

State Sen. Greg Ball

State Sen. Greg Ball

Photo Credit: File Photo

The "Hudson Valley Jobs For Heroes Roundtable" is set to start at 10 a.m. Saturday, March 1 at Carmel Town Hall at 60 McAlpin Ave. in Mahopac. Ball and Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney (D-Cold Spring) will co-host the roundtable. Former Chief Executive Officer of HBO and Yorktown resident Bill Nelson will join the roundtable.

Ball represents District 40, which includes Cortlandt, Peekskill, Mount Kisco, New Castle, Lewisboro, Pound  Ridge, North Salem, Somers and Yorktown in Westchester as well as three towns in Putnam County.

The event is open to all veterans and their specific needs, but will also touch upon Ball’s legislation "to create a state contract preference for service-connected disabled veteran owned small businesses in New York State," according to a release.

"The legislation mirrors the highly successful federal program that is presently established for a three percent contract set aside, and similar legislation has been enacted in over forty other states," representatives said in a release. 

“Providing this earned opportunity to our heroes is commonsense. New York state is behind the over forty other states that have already enacted this set aside. I am honored to join with Representative Maloney to host a joint roundtable to focus on this NY Jobs For Heroes Program,” said Ball, Chairman of the Senate Veterans, Homeland Security and Military Affairs Committee. “One in seven veterans are self-employed or small business owners. The same attributes that make these people so vital to defending our freedom are the same hard earned intangibles that make them exceptional at running their businesses and creating jobs. We have been trailing the nation on this front for far too long. I urge residents to join our cause by signing the NY Jobs For Heroes petition on my website and joining us at the roundtable. The time to get this done is now.”

Maloney, the son of a Navy veteran, said more than three million veterans have come home to start small businesses, according to the release.

"We must do all that we can to support our heroes, and I commend Senator Ball for working to give our veterans access to billions of dollars in state contracts in order to ensure our highly skilled veterans gain meaningful employment upon their return to civilian life,” said Maloney.

Nelson is a Vietnam combat veteran who actively supports efforts to help our veterans and their families in need through his participation in veteran focused charities.

“I believe it is the obligation of every U.S. State to follow the lead of the Federal Government in providing a contract preference to small businesses owned by our service connected disabled veterans. Forty-four states have done so over the past years. It is time for NY State to join in as well. How is it that NY State, attacked on 9/11, leaves behind its sons and daughters who volunteered for military service because of that very attack,” Nelson said. “The great majority of citizens in New York would like to know the rationale for not supporting this effort which simply mirrors the legislation passed by the Federal Government and almost 90 percent of the US States.”

To sign the “NY Jobs For Heroes Program” petition visit Ball’s website: nysenate.gov/webform/petition-ny-jobs-heroes-program.

For more information, or to RSVP for the =contact Krista Gobins at Ball’s office by calling 845-279-3773, or e-mailing kgobins@nysenate.gov.

 

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