The U.S. Department of Labor has awarded General Dynamics Bath Iron Works its Platinum Medallion for efforts to recruit and hire veterans and facilitate their transition into shipbuilding.

“Veterans bring valuable skills to BIW,” said Allyson Coombs, Director of Human Resources Services. “They come from a culture built for mission accomplishment, have leadership skills engrained early in their careers and take their job seriously with safety and first time quality of utmost importance.”

“These skills are crucial to our work environment and to our progress as we work with urgency to build the most sophisticated surface combatants in the world for our valued Navy customer,” Coombs said.

BIW is considered a large employer under the Labor Department’s HIRE Vets Medallion program. The Platinum medallion shows that 10% of the company’s new hires are veterans and at least 85% of those stayed with the company for more than a year. BIW currently has more than 1,000 employees who are former military or are currently in the National Guard or Reserve.

Recipients also provide programs to assist new veteran employees transition from active duty to the civilian workforce, programs to enhance leadership skills, and opportunities for tuition assistance to further their education during their employment. BIW is Maine’s only Platinum Medallion recipient this year.

“This helps attract top talent by letting veterans entering the civilian workforce know that a business is veteran-ready,” according to the HIRE Vets Medallion Program website.