CARMEL – U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer toured the Paladin Center in Carmel and revealed his plan to prioritize the extension of the Returning Heroes and Wounded Warriors Tax Credits, which are proven successes in incentivizing companies to hire veterans and set to expire at the end of this year. Paladin already employs numerous veterans, and Schumer applauded their goal to hire more veterans in the future as they expand. He also urged other Hudson Valley businesses to similarly seek to hire these highly skilled workers that often fall through the cracks when returning home to civilian employment. The Returning Heroes and Wounded Warriors Tax Credits, enacted in November 2011, provide tax breaks to businesses of up to $9,600 depending on the length of time a veteran has been unemployed and if that veteran has a service-connected disability. Schumer fought to include these critical tax credits in the Senate tax extenders package that was considered in September, and will fight to pass the tax credits before they expire at year’s end. Schumer will also discuss Paladin Center’s plans to expand and hire new employees. Paladin officials will state that these federal tax credits would allow them to achieve their goal to hire more veterans in the future.

“These vital tax credits are proven successes in helping Putnam County businesses to hire more veterans, and we cannot allow such a powerful antidote to the economic recession come to an end,” said Schumer. “The Returning Heroes and Wounded Warrior Tax Credits are set to expire at year’s end, which would be a devastating blow to the efforts of companies like Paladin that want to get unemployed veterans in the Hudson Valley back to work. Renewing the veterans’ tax credits isn’t just the smart thing to do for companies in the Hudson Valley and across the country, it’s the right thing to do to honor the sacrifices made by our heroes in uniform. Our veterans have spent months and even years of their lives protecting our freedom, and I am going to fight to renew these tax breaks so that veterans don’t spend the same amount of time in the unemployment line.”

Paladin CEO Felix Carcano said: “Veterans understand the type of operation we are trying to run and understand our client base. They are the best of the best, educated, highly motivated, disciplined and know the importance of training and developing the necessary emergency response skills. We hope, and commit, to hire as many veterans as possible and this tax credit will accelerate and support the creation of these jobs for our returning vets.