With strategic plans in place, York’s Quality Education & Training Center LLC in Indianapolis will be immersing students, both veterans and civilians, into a yearlong work and study program, beginning in 2014. To help draw more veterans to the HVACR industry, the school is working with a local organization called Save Our Veterans (SOV) to teach trained military personnel new skills pertinent to a profession in HVACR.
The school wanted to do something to help veterans who often have trouble finding employment after being discharged from the military. Aaron York Sr., school cofounder and chairman of the board, said, “Veterans need something to do. They come out of the military and they can’t get a job. They become street people because they can’t get a job.” Yet York believes that vets have a lot to offer employers: They are mature, disciplined, ready to learn and have a career, and generally don’t have criminal records.