WASHINGTON – Deputy Secretary of Veterans Affairs Gordon H. Mansfield today presided over the groundbreaking ceremony for a new Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office in Reno, Nev.
“This landmark event signifies the continued commitment this nation has to Nevada’s veterans,” said Mansfield. “The new Regional Office building will be a first-class, 21st century facility where veterans and their families can come for assistance in obtaining the benefits they have earned in service to our country.”
The new facility will house approximately 60 VA employees, as well as employees of the Nevada Office of Veteran Services, veterans service organizations including the Veterans of Foreign Wars, Disabled American Veterans, AMVETS and American Ex-POWs.
This project is part of a VA pilot program to build VA facilities that are high-performance inside and out, more energy- and cost-efficient, more environmentally friendly and more comfortable for the people who will occupy them. It will be certified by the Department of Energy’s U.S. Green Building Council as a Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (LEED) facility, making it the first federal office building in Nevada that is LEED certified.
SDA, Inc., of Greenwood Village, Colo., was awarded the $8.5 million construction contract in October 2005, and it is estimated the project will infuse approximately $3.5 million into the local economy through local contracting. VA will lease the 35,000 square foot facility from the General Services Administration.
The Reno VA Regional Office serves 238,000 veterans in the state of Nevada and 7,000 veterans in four northeastern California counties. It is one of 57 regional offices nationwide that provide financial and other forms of assistance to veterans, their dependents and survivors.
Major benefits include veterans’ disability compensation and pension, survivors’ benefits, vocational rehabilitation and employment assistance, educational assistance, home loan guaranties and life insurance coverage.
For more information about veterans benefits and services, call 1-800-827-1000 or visit VA’s website at http://www.vba.va.gov.
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Reporters and media outlets with questions or comments should contact the Office of Media Relations at vapublicaffairs@va.gov
Veterans with questions about their health care and benefits (including GI Bill). Questions, updates and documents can be submitted online.
Veterans can also use our chatbot to get information about VA benefits and services. The chatbot won’t connect you with a person, but it can show you where to go on VA.gov to find answers to some common questions.
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