8 Puerto Rico public, private firms get ’13 Freedom Award nods

The Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve, a Department of Defense operational committee, announced Monday that eight Puerto Rico Guard and Reserve members nominated their employers for the 2013 Secretary of Defense Employer Support Freedom Award. The agency received 2,899 nominations nationwide.

Puerto Rico’s nominees are: the Carolina Courthouse, in Carolina, the Puerto Rico Police Department in Florida, the Mirus Consulting Group in Humacao, the Puerto Rico Police Department Stolen Vehicles Division in Humacao, the Port of Ponce, the VA Hospital Caribbean Health in Río Piedras, the Puerto Rico National Guard in San Juan, and the Puerto Rico National Guard Human Resources Office also in San Juan.

The Freedom Award is the Department of Defense’s highest recognition for employers supporting employees serving in the Guard and Reserve. Up to 15 award recipients will be announced this summer and honored in Washington, D.C. later this year at the 18^th annual Freedom Award ceremony. Past award recipients have met with senior leaders of the White House and Department of Defense as part of the award recognition.

“Every year, these nominations demonstrate the strength of our employers’ commitment to supporting our Guardsmen and Reservists,” said ESGR National Chair James G. Rebholz.

“We applaud all the National Guard and Reserve Service members who took the time to tell the DoD why their employers are exceptional, and we are grateful to the 2013 nominees for providing our Citizen Warriors with the assistance and encouragement they rely on while answering the call to duty,” he said.

Guard and Reserve Service members, or family members acting on their behalf, voted for their civilian employers for the Freedom Award during the 12-week nomination season that closed in January.

The Freedom Award was instituted in 1996 under the auspices of ESGR to recognize exceptional support from the employer community. In the years since, 175 employers have been honored with the award.

Author Details

• Author Details

Michelle Kantrow-Vázquez

Author Details

Business reporter with 30 years of experience writing for weekly and daily newspapers, as well as trade publications in Puerto Rico. My list of former employers includes Caribbean Business, The San Juan Star, and the Puerto Rico Daily Sun, among others. My areas of expertise include telecommunications, technology, retail, agriculture, tourism, banking and most other segments of Puerto Rico’s economy.

mkantrow@newsismybusiness.com