With over 2,015 veterans unemployed in the Southern TierSCHUMER LAUNCHES CAMPAIGN TO SAVE EXPIRING TAX CREDITS FOR BUSINESSES THAT HIRE VETS CREDIT IS A PROVEN SUCCESS GIVES EMPLOYERS, LIKE SANMINA-SCI, UP TO $9,600 PER VET HIRED

Today, at SanminaSCI in Owego, U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer joined local veterans, including company employees and revealed his plan to prioritize the extension of the Returning Heroes and Wounded Warriors Tax Credits, which are proven successes in incentivizing companies to hire veterans and set to expire at the end of this year. SanminaSCI already employs about 22 veterans, and Schumer applauded their goal to hire approximately 60 veterans in the near future. Specifically, SanminaSCI is looking to hire manufacturing, engineering, and logistics jobs. Schumer highlighted that veterans are perfectly positioned for those positions and others at SanminaSCI and other Southern Tier manufacturing facilities. He also urged other Southern Tier businesses to similarly seek to hire these highly skilled workers that often fall through the cracks when returning home to civilian employment.

The Returning Heroes and Wounded Warriors Tax Credits, enacted in November 2011, provide tax breaks to employers of up to $9,600 depending on the length of time a veteran has been unemployed and if that veteran has a serviceconnected disability. Schumer fought to include these critical tax credits in the Senate tax extenders package that was drafted by the Senate Finance Committee earlier this fall, and will fight to pass the tax credits before they expire at year's end. Schumer also discussed SanminaSCI's plans to expand and hire new employees. Company officials will state that these federal tax credits would allow them to achieve their goal to hire more veterans in the future.

"These vital tax credits are proven successes in helping Tioga County businesses to hire more veterans, and we cannot allow such a powerful antidote to the economic recession come to an end," said Schumer. "The Returning Heroes and Wounded Warrior Tax Credits are set to expire at year's end, which would be a devastating blow to the efforts of companies like SanminaSCI that want to get unemployed veterans in Southern Tier back to work. Renewing the veterans' tax credits isn't just the smart thing to do for manufacturers and other companies in the Southern Tier and across the country, it's the right thing to do to honor the sacrifices made by our heroes in uniform. Our veterans have spent months and even years of their lives protecting our freedom, and I am going to fight to renew these tax breaks so that veterans don't spend the same amount of time in the unemployment line."

Schumer was joined by the Chair of the Tioga County Legislature, Dale Weston; Owego Mayor Kevin Millar; Mark Gable, Vice President of SanminaSCI; and Tioga County Veteran's Director Sandra Junker; the numerous veterans employed at the manufacturing facility in management positions, and other facility staff and local employers that support his push to extend these critical tax credits.

SanminaSCI has a long record of hiring veterans in the past and hopes to hire many more in the future as it expands its programs. Specifically, the company estimates to employ nearly 22 veterans, and Schumer's office plans to work with the manufacturing facility to determine its eligibility for "The Returning Heroes and Wounded Warriors Tax Credits." Given that SanminaSCI would like to hire 60 vets in the near future, in fields ranging from computer technicians to manufacturing operators, they could save over $576,000 should the tax credits be extended. SanminaSCI is a global manufacturing solutions company that fabricates cuttingedge electronic and mechanical products. Founded in Silicon Valley in 1980, the company has become one of the world's leading electronics manufacturing services with approximately 45,000 personnel worldwide and operations in 23 countries. Sanmina SCI's Owego facility specializes in providing advanced printed circuit board technology and is equipped to develop quick turnaround prototypes and coordinate product logistics. In July 2011, the facility was granted MILSPEC certification by the Department of Defense, allowing it to design and manufacture missioncritical military products for partners in defense and aerospace.

Unemployed veterans often have a welldeveloped skill set that allows them to be productive and contributing members of the workforce in local communities. This is especially true for Army specialists and technicians who have experience with advanced military technology and go on to work in technical settings, like the MILSPEC certified SanminaSCI, after their service duty is finished. Army specialists have the potential to be very effective technical operators and logistics experts given their high level of training in the military. While they are deployed, these service members are responsible for maintaining, processing, and troubleshooting military computer systems and operations, and are proficient in configuring and monitoring local and widearea networks.

President Obama signed the Returning Heroes and Wounded Warriors Tax Credits into law on November 21, 2011 as part of the VOW to Hire Heroes Act, which contained a series of tax credits for businesses that hire outofwork veterans. As a result of this tax break, businesses that hire veterans who have been searching for work for at least four weeks, but less than six months, are eligible for a tax credit of up to $2,400 per veteran hired. Businesses that hire a veteran who has been looking for a job for at least six months receive a tax credit worth up to $5,600. A business that hires a veteran who has been seeking work for at least six months and has a servicerelated disability is eligible for a $9,600 tax credit. While taxexempt organizations save a slightly smaller percentage, a nonprofit company can still save up to $6,240 if they hire a disabled veteran who has been unemployed for six months or more.

Schumer pushed to extend the Returning Heroes and Wounded Warriors Tax Credits in light of disappointing unemployment numbers for veterans, particularly in upstate New York. Tioga County alone has 206 unemployed veterans and Broome County has 573, while New York's Southern Tier has 2,015, according to New York State Department of Labor's most recent data from 2010. According to the state's data, there are 16,846 unemployed veterans in upstate New York as a whole. Unemployment among New York's veteran population, particularly younger veterans returning from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, has remained stubbornly high over the last several years. Last year, the veteran population in the United States consisted of 20.2 million men and 1.8 million women, accounting for about 9.5 percent of the adult population in the country. 2.2 million of those veterans served after September 11, 2011, and two thirds of that total were under 35 years old. Unemployment among veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan has risen to 12.1 percent nationally, up from 10.6 percent from a year ago. 240,000 young veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan are unemployed nationwide. An astonishing 21.9 percent of male veterans aged 1824 who have served since September 11th were unemployed last year, according to data recently released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

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