By Larry Jones
June 29, 2009

Colorado Springs Mayor Lionel Rivera served as chair of the June 14 Community and Military Relations Task Force meeting. Two speakers addressed the task force.

Paul Schneeberger told mayors about Beyond Tribute, an organization that he co-founded and currently serve as its President. He said the organization is a private not-for profit organization that gathers donated funds to distribute grants to A-rated veteran service organizations that provide vitally needed services for veterans and military families.

Schneeberger informed members of the Task Force that several mayors were sponsoring a resolution that urges the Conference of Mayors to support the Beyond Tribute initiative in its effort to engage the American public on Memorial Day and Veterans Day by encouraging businesses and consumers to contribute to charitable organizations whose purpose is to assist wounded veterans, including those suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injury and other invisible wounds of war.

Jeff Grossberger of Skysite Properties told mayors that the recently passed economic stimulus bill provides enormous opportunities for veterans. He said there are training funds available at various federal agencies that can be used to train veterans as entrepreneurs and to train them in a specialty such as retrofitting buildings to make them energy efficient. He pointed out that lots of federal funds are available for green projects and veterans must be given priority on federal contracts such as those awarded by the General Service Administration. He urged mayors to find out more about these programs and help facilitate the training of veterans in their areas.