The Boot, a recently formed Baton Rouge nonprofit aimed at helping military personnel find post-service employment in Louisiana, on Tuesday announced that it has placed 58 service members in new careers across the state and generated a $2.7 million economic impact since its inception.
The organization launched in August with a stated goal of retaining service members currently stationed in Louisiana as well as recruiting service members from out-of-state bases to settle in the Bayou State.
Its approach is twofold.
First, the organization seeks to showcase Louisiana as an ideal place to live after leaving the military through all-expenses-paid “recruitment trips” to various parts of the state. Second, it aims to ensure that those service members who do choose to settle in Louisiana have access to health care, housing and meaningful employment once they’ve done so.
Read more about The Boot’s mission here.
Of the 58 service members The Boot has placed in new careers, nine have been placed in the Capital Region.
As part of Tuesday’s announcement, the organization also highlighted two high-profile partnerships it has entered into.
Cheniere Energy, an international energy company headquartered in Houston, has invested $100,000 in The Boot to help develop the L.A.C.E.S. Network, a statewide network of employers and professional organizations that will work to expedite post-service career obtainment for military personnel. Members include the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry, the Louisiana Society for Human Resource Management and the Bayou and Pelican chapters of Associated Builders and Contractors.
The Boot has also partnered with Baton Rouge-based Performance Contractors to apply for a $300,000 Delta Regional Authority grant to recruit and train 40 industrial welders for careers in Louisiana’s advanced manufacturing and construction industries over a three-year period. The recipients of that grant will be announced in April or May.
