“If you find a good company that supports you through and through, that’s the best thing you can have,” Jones said.

Now Army veterans coming after Jones will have a leg up in finding a job that Jones didn’t have three years ago. Ophir-Spiricon signed an agreement with the U.S. Army to become a partner in the military institution’s Partnership for Youth Success, or PaYS, program at Bridgerland Applied Technology College on Tuesday. PaYS allows soldiers and ROTC cadets a guaranteed chance to have an interview and potential employment with partners — businesses, higher education institutions, state and local governments — to gain employment as a civilian after service.

As part of the enlistment process, recruits sign a statement of intent to work for Ophir-Spiricon upon completion of their term of service or completion of their military training. Enlistees interested in gaining specific job training and qualifications will receive that training while in the U.S. Army. As they near the end of their enlistments, the soldiers will have the opportunity to interview with Ophir-Spiricon for a specific job at a specific location.

Ophir-Spiricon President Gary Wagner, a former Army man himself, said his company is interested in the program because they’ve already hired veterans, like Jones, to work for them.

“Monster doesn’t work; the traditional ways of throwing out a net and finding employees doesn’t work here,” Wagner said in remarks to ceremony attendees at BATC, referring to the popular job searching site and Cache County’s low unemployment rate. “You have to find unique ways to attract talent and I thought, ‘What can the military do?’ They had a program.”

Wagner said veterans have the skills his company is looking for.

“If I have the chance to hire an employee that has good structured training and discipline that the military has to offer, to me, that’s definitely an advantage than someone coming out of school,” Wagner said in an interview with The Herald Journal. “I think the kind of skills somebody learns in the military — everything from discipline to punctuality to mechanics — it just makes them the kind of contributor that we’re looking for.”

Jones said the skills he learned in the military have definitely carried over to his civilian job.

“The discipline and motivation, I brought that over to the workforce,” Jones said. “Everything I learned in the military I brought home, from ethics to focusing on my job.”

Lt. Col. Matthew Harmon, a battalion commander in Salt Lake City, spoke to the paper about the importance of such a program.

“What we’re hoping to get out of it is to take another member of the community and a business in the community and marry the two up, and to provide that person going to that corporation the values the Army presents, the education, the skills, that will, in turn, help that corporation make a better product,” Harmon said.

He also told attendees at the BATC event what veterans bring to the civilian workforce.

“Soldiers are critical thinkers; we wouldn’t flinch when the unexpected emerges,” Harmon said. “Bottom line, soldiers get the job done.”

Harmon also spoke of what he sees as a disconnect between the military and civilians, and hopes PaYS fills that gap.

“It’s getting great and greater every year — less people have that connection to service,” he said.

The agreement between Ophir-Spiricon and the U.S. Army comes at a good time for the country’s veteran population. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports unemployment in this group is the lowest it’s been in seven years — made possible thanks to efforts by the federal government and private companies.

Approximately 3.9 percent of veterans nationwide — about 20 million people, according to the Bureau — are unemployed as of October, down from 4.3 percent the month before. Both rates are lower than the national unemployment rate of 5 percent. However, in contrast, Utah’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate is at 3.6 percent.

“The Army is taking greater steps to educate our force when they leave the service — we have a transition office and career advisory panel to help them find jobs,” Harmon said as one of the reasons the vets unemployment rate is low.

Ophir-Spiricon jobs are scheduled to be available in the Army’s PaYS database soon, according to a U.S. Army news release. Applicants may visit their local recruiter or visit www.armypays.com.