Military Spouse Career Development Program Launches with Tampa Networking Event

Online, April 1, 2013 (Newswire.com) - In Gear Career (www.ingearcareer.org), a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing past and present career-focused Military Spouses with free professional career development opportunities, announced the launch of its MilSpouse Community Professional Networks (MCPN) program.

The program, which is being piloted with the organization's Tampa chapter, will help In Gear Career members quickly build their professional networks through the organization's alliances with local chambers of commerce, trade groups, business partnerships, and other non-profit groups.

"Building a professional network is one of the biggest challenges career-focused military spouses face. Each time they relocate to a new city, they have to build a new network from scratch. The lack of a network is detrimental to their long-term career success, as most professional jobs, especially at the more senior levels, are filled through networking-not job postings," said Haley Uthlaut, In Gear Career's Executive Director.

The vision for the program, which will be rolled out to additional IGC Local Chapters this year, is to serve as "built-in" professional networks that military spouses can tap into before they arrive at a new duty station. "This program will provide entry points into a local network of professionals that military spouses would otherwise not have access to without significant up-front work and time on-ground," Uthlaut explained.

"We're very excited to launch the MCPN program in Tampa. IGC's partnership with the Greater Tampa Chamber of Commerce will strengthen our efforts to assist career-focused military spouses in maintaining meaningful career progression, and demonstrate to employers the value military spouses bring to organizations," she said.

To kick off the program, the organization will host a networking event on April 23 from 6:00-8:00 p.m. The event, which is being sponsored by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's Hiring Our Heroes program, will provide military spouses the opportunity to network with senior-level executives and business leaders from the greater Tampa community.

The event is free and open to spouses from all military branches, and will take place at Tampa Electric headquarters, 702 N. Franklin Street, Tampa, FL.

Spouses can register for the event at www.hoh.greatjob.net.

Businesses interested in participating should contact In Gear Career's Tampa Chapter Leader at [email protected].