Proud Tradition of Military Service A Family Affair for Penske Veteran
As a child, Michael Kegerise marveled as adults recalled his family's legacy of military service, which predated the Civil War.
"I always knew I would regret not serving in the military, so I enlisted while in college," said Kegerise, enterprise facility services project engineer at Penske's corporate office in Reading, Pennsylvania.
After serving 11 years with the Pennsylvania Army National Guard, Captain Kegerise recently took off his uniform for the final time as he ended his military service and added his name to Penske's long list of military veterans.
This month, the organization paused to honor the service and sacrifice of military veterans in recognition of National Veterans and Military Families Month. Today, associates from across the corporate campus joined in celebrating Veterans Day by thanking colleagues for their military service.
"Penske is proud to support our veterans and active-duty military, and we thank them for their service on behalf of our nation and our citizens," said Sarah Smith, senior vice president of Human Resources.
"Veterans and active-duty military bring key skills and capabilities that enhance our truck leasing and logistics businesses: leadership, teamwork and problem solving, to name a few," Smith said. "Their contributions have helped move our company and our industry forward."
Driving Military Recruitment
Penske was named a 2021 Military Friendly Employer in recognition of the company's commitment to creating employment opportunities for veterans.
"We are proud to honor the dedication and sacrifice of veterans in service to our country," said Ron Schwartz, vice president of staffing. "We are equally as proud to hire and employ veterans as well as active National Guard and Reserve members."
The company actively recruits veterans by promoting employment opportunities in military publications, on veterans' job boards, and through exclusive partnerships with military-friendly organizations, such as ESGR, G.I. Jobs, RecruitMilitary, Military Officers Association of America, VetCentral, VRS Virtual Veteran Career Fairs, Hirepurpose, Corporate America Supports You, Lucas Group and Bradley-Morris, Inc.
Penske has teamed up with Veteran Recruiting (VR) and other leading employers to support the VetFriendly Jobs Initiative to hire or train 100,000 veterans by 2020.
The company was one of many that joined efforts with VR to support the White House Joining Forces Initiative, which led to the hiring of 170,000 veterans between 2011 and 2016.
Military-Friendly Organization Supporter
In addition to hiring, the company is proud to partner with and support military-friendly organizations, including The Paralyzed Veterans of America's Mission: ABLE campaign and Support Military Families.
Penske Truck Rental joined with Paralyzed Veterans seven years ago to create the #OneWay4PVA campaign, which encourages rental customers to donate $1 to Paralyzed Veterans Mission: ABLE campaign.
Penske associates regularly volunteer for organizations that support and honor our troops and veterans, like the Paul R. Gordon Veteran Social Center of Berks County in Reading, Pennsylvania.
In addition, Penske offers discounts on truck rentals for active military members and veterans when reserving one-way truck rentals online.
Both Penske Truck Leasing and Penske Logistics offer a wide range of career opportunities, including truck fleet maintenance technicians, truck drivers, fleet maintenance supervisors, operations management roles, as well as logistics and supply chain operations roles and many others.
Visit https://penske.jobs/veterans/ for more information on career opportunities.
By Bernie Mixon
Caption: U.S. Navy Reserves honoring employers for their support.