SAWGRASS, Fla. – Days before The Players Championship tees off, hundreds of active duty, reserve, retired military, veteran and military spouses came out to TPC Sawgrass for an annual free job fair.
There were over 50 companies on hand at the Birdies for Brave Patriots Outpost at the 16th green, all with open hiring opportunities.
It was the first of several opportunities for the military, their families and veterans at the tournament this week.
Trent Freeman came in his business attire with resumes in hand. He is currently in the Navy but will soon be out and is now looking for his next job.
"It's really exciting just to start fresh and the world is my oyster," Trent Freeman said. "But at the same time, it's a really big oyster but also overwhelming.
Many employers, value hiring these men and women because of the characteristics they learned from the military.
"The transition can be very difficult but we are fortunate as a city to have a lot of good resources for them," said retired Brigadier Michael Fleming, director of the job fair.
Fleming said he is so thankful for the many opportunities for the military at The Players.
Members of the military community can attend the tournament free and Tuesday is set aside to honor active duty and retired service members, with a concert by Jon Pardi at the end of the day.
This was the seventh year The Players had offered the military job fair. Nearly 50 companies and organizations participated this year, including:
- Alachua County Sheriff’s Office
- Amazon
- Apex
- Boat US
- Boeing Cecil Field
- BTG
- CareerSource Northeast Florida
- Carlisle IT
- City of Jacksonville
- Crowley Maritime
- DAK Resources
- ESGR/H2H
- First Command Financial Planning
- Fleet & Family Support Center
- Florida Blue
- Georgia Air National Guard
- Georgia Pacific
- Gulfstream Aerospace
- Haskell
- Hanania Automotive
- Home Builders Institute
- Humana - Tricare
- Jacksonville Fire and Rescue
- Jacksonville University
- Keiser University
- Kelly Services
- Leader Quest
- LSI
- Morgan Stanley
- National Life Group
- NAVAIR Fleet Readiness Center
- North Florida Financial
- Northrup Grumman
- Onward to Opportunity
- Operation New Uniform
- Optum
- Patriot Publishing
- Pizza Hut
- Preferred Freezer
- Primerica
- Remedy Staffing
- SAP
- S.A. Robinson Construction
- Sawgrass Marriott
- Sevan Multi-Site Solutions
- Shipyard Staffing
- Strategic Systems
- Tallahassee Police Dept.
- Trident Refit Facility
- Turner Pest Control
- U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
- United Rentals
- USO Pathfinder
- VyStar
- Watson Realty
- Wounded Warrior Project