PANTHER WOWS AND EDUCATES EMPLOYERS IN THEIR FIRST EVER BOSS LIFT EVENT


Indianapolis, Ind. (May 10, 2012) – Panther Racing welcomed some special guests to Indianapolis yesterday morning when 28 employers from Kansas flew in on a KC135 cargo plane for Panther’s first ever Boss Lift Event. As part of the team’s program to educate and raise awareness amongst employers about the high unemployment rates military veterans and National Guard soldiers face, Panther’s Boss Lift program is designed to give a group of employers an unprecedented look inside multiple facets of the National Guard.

The group of 28 employers, which consisted of Presidents, CEO’s and owners of prominent companies from the Kansas City area, were brought to Indy to learn more about the National Guard and U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Hiring Our Hero Initiative.

"It was a once in a lifetime experience, I feel like a little kid.” John Ferrell from Sprint said.  “These are the things we dream about doing when we're small kids, and I was lucky enough to do it done today.  It was wonderful!"”

The employers were treated to a full day of events, beginning with two-seat rides around the famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway and lunch in the Panther Racing hospitality unit as they listened to speakers like Panther Racing’s Promotional Director Jane Barnes, the Adjutant General of Indiana Major General Martin Umbarger, and Cholly Smith of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce shed light on some pressing issues our National Guard soldiers and their families are facing.

"What we do in the Guard each and every day is we train and grow leaders,” the Kansas Adjutant General, Major General Lee Tafanelli said.  “And it’s those skills and that training that we provide that we can then take back to the businesses in our communities that our soldiers and airmen serve in."

From IMS the group was taken to the Camp Atterbury Joint Maneuver Training Center in southern Indiana where they had the opportunity to tour the 38,000-acre facility and interact with soldiers currently serving in the National Guard. Their tour included a inside look at how the National Guard and other branches of the military train for search and rescue, survival situations, and how they make use of simulated combat for training purposes. 

"Its very important what I learned here today,” explained Ferrell. “I'm going to take it back and we're going to institutionalize not just the hiring of current vets, but maybe the retraining and hiring down the road."

For more information about the Hiring Our Heroes initiative and to find out how you can help, visit http://www.uschamber.com/hiringourheroes.