NEW BREMEN — Crown Equipment was honored Wednesday by the Ohio Department of Veterans Services for its dedication to hiring and retaining military veterans.
Chip Tansill, director of the the Ohio Department of Veterans Services, traveled to Crown’s headquarters in New Bremen to thank the veterans for their service, and to acknowledge the company’s consistent recruitment of Ohio’s military servicemen and women.
“I’m thankful for what a great job this company has done in hiring our veterans,” Tansill told the crowd. “Some businesses want to hire veterans, but they don’t know how. This company has figured it out, and to have that many veterans here is amazing.”
Randy Niekamp, Crown’s vice president of human resources, said of the 8,000 employees who work there nationwide, 500 are veterans. He said they’ve been involved with the Army PaYS program, which guarantees veterans a job interview and possible employment with their chosen PaYS partner after their service is complete. Niekamp said they’ve also held military recruiting events over the last several years.
Niekamp said that, while it “really feels good to be recognized,” he believes hiring veterans “just makes sense.”
“They’ve been under pressure situations that most of us can’t even imagine,” Niekamp said. “Plus they’re disciplined, they’re skilled, and they know what it takes to get a job done.
“They’re just great workers.”
At Wednesday’s ceremony, Tansill handed each veteran who attended an OhioMeansJobs Veterans Challenge Coin, and a Veterans Coin from the Ohio DVS. There were about 10 veterans on-hand to accept the coins.
“I think it’s a great way to recognize them for their time in service,” Niekamp said. “They made some great sacrifices, so they need to be recognized for that.”
