Groton — Comcast officials from the Western New England Region, which serves Connecticut, Vermont, western Massachusetts, western New Hampshire and New York, pledged to hire more members of the National Guard and reserves at an event Wednesday at Nautilus Park Community Center.

The officials signed the Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve Statement of Support, a Department of Defense program aimed at creating supportive work environments for service members. These signing events have been held around the country.

The signing of the statement signifies Comcast's commitment to supporting and hiring more guardsmen and reservists, and also confirms the company's compliance with the 1994 Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act, which protects the rights and responsibilities of uniformed serviced members and their civilian employers, officials said.

In early 2015, Comcast set a goal of hiring 10,000 veterans, reservists and military spouses through 2017. So far, the company has hired about 7,500, according to retired Army Brigadier Gen. Carol Eggert, senior vice president of military and veteran affairs for Comcast NBCUniversal

Eggert said the company goes above and beyond in its support of guardsmen and reservists by, for example, providing them with "state of the art benefits" such as giving them paid time off to perform their military duties.

At Wednesday's event, members of the local military community were able to learn about career opportunities at Comcast and meet with recruiters. There was also a three-hour summit for Comcast employees, including hiring and talent acquisition managers, to learn about and understand "this community," Eggert said.