Ameren Corp. says it's pretty proud that more than 600 of its 9,300 workers in Illinois and Missouri once were in the armed forces. And the utility hopes to increase that number under a program pushed by first lady Michelle Obama.

St. Louis-based utility looks to recruit 200 veterans and military spouses over the next five years as part of its involvement in the public-private initiative called Joining Forces.

That national effort's goal is to get 100,000 jobless veterans and their spouses hired into jobs or retrained by next year.

Ameren says it's doing its part, with military veterans making up one-tenth of its new hires this year through August.

Ameren's chairman, president and chief executive, Thomas Voss, is an Air Force veteran.