Veterans’ officer is hired
By Bobbi Mlynar
Originally published 01:43 p.m., March 25, 2008
Updated 01:43 p.m., March 25, 2008
An Emporian has been hired as full-time veterans’ service officer for the local office of the Kansas Commission on Veterans Affairs.
Jamie Potter, a veteran of the U.S. Navy, is in Wichita undergoing extensive training and will begin her duties officially on April 1, according to information from Wayne Bollig, veterans’ service director for Kansas.
“It’s a very important office, and we really needed somebody there full-time as much as possible,” Bollig said of the Emporia office. “It was one of our, what I would consider, more-productive field offices, so it was important to get it filled as soon as possible.”
The position had been open since July, when the former service officer moved and money was not available to hire a replacement. The money became available in January, and jobs were advertised for service officers in Emporia and in Hays.
In the interim, the Emporia area has been served part-time by field officers out of the KCVA office in Wichita.
The re-opening of the position in January brought a response from a sizable number of candidates to fill the busy local office.
“We ended up with about 14 really solid applicants, all very good people,” Bollig said. “We interviewed all that were eligible. Jamie by far kind of stood out as an outstanding candidate.”
Potter was hired about two weeks ago, he said, and began training for the new position. As required in the job description, Potter is a veteran of U.S. military service.
She enlisted in the Navy in March 1986 and served until 1990. Since 1998, she has worked for IMA Insurance of Kansas in Topeka.
Potter will help veterans and their families resolve issues they may encounter with the Veterans Affairs system, apply for benefits, answer questions, and assist in other ways as needed.