The first cohort of trainees from the El Paso Workforce Opportunities Services (WOS) program received graduation certificates today from Prudential Chairman and CEO John Strangfeld, who officially welcomed them to Prudential El Paso Business & Technology Solutions, a subsidiary of Prudential Financial, Inc. [NYSE:PRU].

The graduates included seven veterans and the spouse of an Army soldier. They were all trained through VETalent, an innovative work study program created by Prudential and WOS to help veterans, reservists, members of the National Guard and their spouses get on-the job training and gain exposure to the corporate work environment.

“Congratulations on completing the VETalent training program. I am inspired by your accomplishments, both in and out of the military. We are very happy to have you join us,” said Strangfeld at the graduation ceremony in Centennial Hall at Ft. Bliss. “We are especially excited to have you on board as we continue to build our presence in El Paso. Our new technology and business center marks a new phase of our work to help veterans and their families assimilate into the corporate environment.”

Prudential El Paso Business & Technology Solutions opened last April. Prudential will hire 300 employees in high quality positions at the center over the next three years, many of them veterans, military spouses, and service members in the Reserves or National Guard.

Prudential Vice Chairman Mark Grier, who also spoke at the VETalent graduation service, said Prudential located its new office in Texas because it has the second largest number of veterans (1.6 million) nationally, and in El Paso because 48,000 veterans live in the metropolitan area and it is the home of Ft. Bliss, one of the largest military installations in the country.

“Prudential has a longstanding commitment to the men and women in the U.S. military who have kept our country safe and secure,” said Grier. “This is more than just a way to give back to them and their families. Corporate America benefits when it recruits employees from this talented group of people who are disciplined, hardworking and have proven leadership skills.”

“I want to congratulate Chairman John Strangfeld and the Prudential team for all of their hard work to arrive at today’s graduation through the VETalent program. This week’s graduation reaffirms Prudential’s dedication to our nation’s military through their commitment to hiring our community’s military spouses and veterans. El Paso is honored to be home to Prudential and to be a partner in this effort,” said Oscar Leeser, mayor of El Paso.

For the past four months, the graduates received extensive and rigorous job training that started with classroom work at El Paso Community College, continued with job specific training, and concluded with on-the-job training at Prudential El Paso. After successfully completing additional training as information security administrators over the next two months, they will qualify for full-time careers at Prudential.

The graduates and their military experience are: Osvaldo “Ozzy” Aguilar, six years, Army National Guard; Miguel Chavez, 18 years, Army, Navy and Army National Guard; Ruben Escudero, five years, Navy; Ashley McCallister, spouse of an Army soldier; Toni McNair, 20 years, Army; Amy Neal, 13 years, Marine Corps and Army National Guard; Enrique Ortiz, 13 years, Marine Corps and Army National Guard; and Tabbetha Stamps, 16 years, Army Reserves. Also recognized at the ceremony was VETalent trainer Dr. Sherrie M. Diaz, who left the program to accept a position as a Systems Analyst at Prudential El Paso. Dr. Diaz served 16 years in the Air Force.

Prudential operates its El Paso business in partnership with HGS USA, a local customer relationship management contractor. Earlier in the day, Prudential held a ribbon cutting for its new El Paso office in the HGS building located at 8465 Gran Vista Drive. “HGS is delighted to partner with Prudential, and Fort Bliss, on a joint initiative to hire our nation’s veterans and military spouses. We are honored to give back to those who have tirelessly and selflessly served our country. HGS has committed to employing veterans from the community of El Paso with tremendous success--already at 50 percent of all new hires. Through this collaboration with Prudential, HGS continues to fulfill its longstanding commitment to support the U.S. military,” said HGS USA President Kathy Hamburger.

Rolando Pablos, CEO of the Borderplex Alliance, a privately funded economic development group that partners with the City of El Paso and business leaders in the El Paso metro area, said, “Today is a great day for our military community. Congratulations go out to the first Prudential graduating class. We are very grateful to Prudential for providing our local veterans and military spouses excellent career opportunities.”

Since it was created in 2010, VETalent has expanded at Prudential from Newark, N.J., where the company is headquartered, to many of its other business locations: Dubuque, Iowa; Dresher/Ft. Washington, Pa; Jacksonville, Fla; Hartford/Shelton, Conn; and now El Paso.

Prudential supports U.S. veterans, active service members and veterans already in its employ, through its Office of Veterans Initiatives, which coordinates companywide efforts to create sustainable programs for transitioning veterans. These efforts include VETalent and other programs and initiatives that help remove obstacles to employment for veterans, active service members and their families. The Veterans Initiatives team also collaborates with corporate peers to support similar programs that provide veterans access to quality education, job training, and employment opportunities. For more information, visit www.prudential.com/veterans.

In November 2014, GI Jobs magazine named Prudential a Military Friendly Employer® for the fifth consecutive year; and in April 2014, Military Times magazine named Prudential a “Best for Vets” employer for its commitment to providing job training and opportunities for veterans, and its support for military personnel on reserve duty.

Workforce Outsource Services is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit charitable organization that helps companies build strong talent pipelines through unique work-study programs. WOS accomplishes this by placing talented, driven high-school graduates and military veterans in scholarship programs that teach them actionable corporate skills as well as interpersonal/communication skills. For more information, please visit http://www.wforce.org/ .

Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE: PRU), a financial services leader with more than $1 trillion of assets under management as of September 30, 2014, has operations in the United States, Asia, Europe, and Latin America. Prudential’s diverse and talented employees are committed to helping individual and institutional customers grow and protect their wealth through a variety of products and services, including life insurance, annuities, retirement-related services, mutual funds and investment management. In the U.S., Prudential’s iconic Rock symbol has stood for strength, stability, expertise and innovation for more than a century. For more information, please visit www.news.prudential.com.