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By Laurie Burstein
Nine years ago, Laura Herring had a “jem” of an idea. Since her company, The Impact Group, was already helping find jobs for spouses of employees at large corporations, why not do the same for military spouses? She approached the Department of Defense, and with planning and persistence the new Impact JEMS (Jobs/Employment for Military Spouses) was launched this April at Scott AFB.
The one-year pilot program will help more than 1,000 military spouses relocating to Scott, as well as assist spouses already there. If successful, the program may be expanded to other military bases throughout the country.
“Spouse employment is a big goal for the military,” says Herring, president and CEO of Impact. “Our goal is to create a national jobs network with priority employment for military spouses.”
Herring says the Impact JEMS program works on many fronts. “This program helps spouses generate income for their family while stimulating job creation in our region,” she says. “We are making a plea to local and national employers to sign on.” Herring adds that there is no fee for employers to be part of the program.
 Laura Herring
president and CEO,
The Impact Group
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Brian Stewart, an employee at Impact and director of the new program, said Impact JEMS addresses the long-standing problem military spouses face in trying to maintain a career. Stewart is himself a retired military veteran who knows firsthand how difficult it can be for spouses to maintain a career.
“Military service members are required to relocate an average of once every 3.2 years,” Stewart says. “This frequent military-directed relocation places many burdens on the military family. One of those burdens is military spouses who choose to work must give up a job at the old location and find a job at the new location.”
Over the course of a standard 20-year military career, Stewart says this amounts to starting over many times, leading to an associated loss of family income between jobs, loss of vacation and sick days, stress of unemployment during the job search, and so on.
Stewart says Impact was given start-up funds from the Department of Defense, and is paid based on the number of positions it can fill. So far, 45 employers have signed up for the program including Abbott EMS, JC Penney, Siemens Manufacturing, Sears, Union Planters Bank and TEK Systems. While most are Illinois-based companies, participation from employers on both sides of the river is needed. Since the drive from Scott AFB to downtown St. Louis is only about 20 minutes, many military spouses are willing to commute from Illinois to work in Missouri.
Stewart says there is a wide variety of employers and industries involved. “They need all sorts of people with all skill levels—from those looking for their first job to people with advanced degrees and years of experience.” Job openings include administrative assistants, managers, health care workers, teachers and accountants.
Like most military bases, Scott has a Family Support Center that assists with general employment needs, such as skills assessment, resume writing and job interviewing. But these centers have been prohibited from direct placement in the past because job placement is a Department of Labor function.
But under a special arrangement between the Defense Department and the Labor Department, Impact JEMS can now help spouses directly find a job. Stewart explains, “The Impact JEMS program complements and reinforces the services offered by the Family Support Center. The essential difference is that Impact JEMS makes direct placement of spouses with employers while the Family Support Centers are prohibited from doing that.”
John Steffen, director of the Family Support Center at Scott, says, “We have never had a job placement service before this program, and it is a service that will benefit military spouses. There are many well-educated spouses who have lost jobs and seniority due to moves and this should help us give them some stability and continuity,” he said.
Col. Barbara Faulkenberry, 375th Airlift Wing Commander and the Installation Commander at Scott, noted in a statement that Scott AFB was excited about the new program: “Improving how we assist our spouses attain employment translates into higher retention of our military members.”
Impact has been getting the word out to spouses primarily through direct mail and by visiting the Scott AFB commissary. So far the response has been positive. But a major boost is expected soon, provided by one of the most recognizable women in the world.
“We are very excited to announce that first lady Laura Bush has agreed to become the spokesperson for Impact JEMS, and will make an appearance in the near future at Scott Air Force Base to talk about the importance of this program,” Herring says.
Stewart says the ultimate goal of the program is to bring it to military bases worldwide. “We seek to roll out this program to serve all military spouses at approximately 350 military installations worldwide,” he says. “We want to establish relationships with large national and international employers with many locations. When a military service member is relocated, the large employer with many locations could relocate the military spouse in tandem. This would go a long way toward helping the military spouse develop a truly mobile career.”
Employers in Illinois and St. Louis who are interested in having
military spouses referred for job placement can visit the web site at www.impactjems.com or call Stewart at 1-800-980-0101.
Laurie Burstein is a freelance writer based in St. Louis.
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