LOUISVILLE, Ky. (April 14, 2016) — Where Opportunity Knox, a regional initiative to connect 10,000 transitioning Veterans and/or military spouses to jobs and the Greater Louisville Region by the end of 2017, announced today that Ann Reiter has been promoted to Executive Director. Reiter joined the organization in December 2015 as a Regional Veteran Connector and replaces Beth Avey. Avey will join the initiative’s Advisory Board and remain actively involved.
Reiter is currently a Human Resources Officer in the U.S. Army Reserve. Prior to her family’s relocation to Fort Knox in June 2015, she served as Washington State’s Lead State HR Veteran Strategy and Planning Specialist ensuring the implementation of Governor Jay Inlsee’s Executive Order 13-01, Veterans Transition Support. She was instrumental in aligning statewide Veteran workforce strategies bringing private, public, Veteran service and nonprofit organizations together creating a more collaborative holistic transition for local service members exiting military service. Reiter also helped to create the Northwest Edge Program, a bridging program which complements the Department of Defense’s transition program, providing an “edge” to those service members staying within or returning to Washington State.
While mobilized to active duty, Reiter also served as the Deputy for the Army Transition Services Office at Joint Base Lewis-McChord (JBLM) where she managed the planning, resourcing and execution of all Army local transition services programs, ensuring a seamless transition for service members exiting JBLM. Concurrently, she served as a Company Commander for the 1st Joint Mobilization Brigade Headquarters and Headquarters Company (HHC). In this role, she was responsible for the health, welfare, training and morale of 24 1st Joint Mobilization Brigade Soldiers, 23 attached Soldiers and over 300 Soldiers preparing to leave or returning from deployment through JBLM.
“Ann hit the ground running when she joined our team in 2015 and has contributed a great deal in a short amount of time due to her depth of relevant experience,” said Wendell Lawrence, Chairman of the Where Opportunity Knox Advisory Board. “We were fortunate to have someone with her expertise relocate to Fort Knox, and I am confident she will be a great leader for this initiative as we continue to connect employers seeking talent and Veterans seeking opportunities.”
Reiter has a Bachelors of Science in Psychology from Kansas State University and has completed Basic Officer Leader’s Course and Captain’s Career Course as part of the U.S. Army’s Military Leadership Development program. She is married to MAJ Troy Reiter and they live on Fort Knox with their two children.
Where Opportunity Knox, which launched in September 2014, is a unique regional initiative to connect 10,000 transitioning Veterans and military spouses to jobs and the Greater Louisville region by the end of 2017. While numerous employers throughout the country have made the commitment to hire Veterans, there is no geographic region that has taken on this challenge. With approximately 100,000 Soldiers transitioning from active duty through the Army Transition Assistance Program (SFL-TAP) which is headquartered at the U.S. Army Human Resources Command located at Fort Knox, Ky. and more than 3,000 of those transitioning Soldiers stationed at Fort Knox, Greater Louisville’s 26-county region has a unique economic development opportunity to tap into this highly skilled Veteran talent like nowhere else in the nation.
This initiative is not a job placement service but instead is about developing a pipeline of transitioning Veterans who are looking for a post-military place to live and work – a place that values Veterans, offers a high-level quality of life and has a diverse and robust economy with available jobs and careers. Through a network of Regional Veteran Connectors and a host of knowledgeable volunteers, Where Opportunity Knox is making the connections Veterans need to find the right civilian job and the right civilian community. Where Opportunity Knox also provides an online resource for transitioning families to get information about the overall quality of life in the Greater Louisville Region including jobs, schools and more.
Where Opportunity Knox is currently funded by the Duke Energy Foundation, the Gheens Foundation, the James Graham Brown Foundation and the Ogle Foundation. Kentucky Indiana Exchange (KIX), managed by three regional chambers of commerce including Greater Louisville Inc., the Hardin County Chamber of Commerce and One Southern Indiana, designed and implemented this initiative. For more information about Where Opportunity Knox and to learn more about hiring opportunities for Veterans, visit www.whereopportunityknox.com.
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