July 6, 2018 (Western, Iowa) – Today, Gov. Kim Reynolds, Lt. Gov. Adam Gregg and Iowa Workforce Development Director Beth Townsend announced that Adair, Guthrie and Audubon Counties have become the 83rd, 84th and 85th Home Base Iowa Communities. They joined other state and community leaders along with local businesses and veterans to recognize their efforts to become the newest Home Base Iowa Communities.
“As governor of this great state, it is my honor and pleasure to support communities and their commitment to hire and welcome veterans,” Gov. Reynolds said. “Veterans’ dedication to serve and protect our country is why we were able to celebrate our independence this week. We want to make Iowa the state of choice for veterans. It’s a great place to live, work and raise a family, and we want veterans to know there’s a job waiting for them when they get here.”
Home Base Iowa is a one-of-a-kind program to connect veterans and transitioning service members with almost 2,000 businesses statewide who have pledged to hire over 10,000 veterans. In addition to the 85 communities statewide, the program also has 24 college and university partners.
“Congratulation to Adair, Guthrie and Audubon Counties for becoming our three newest Home Base Iowa communities,” Lt. Gov. Gregg said. “We thank the commitment made by these counties to recruit veterans and transitioning service members to work in our state and make Iowa their home.”
The program connects businesses and communities with veteran job seekers using the “Find a Veteran” feature on the Home Base Iowa website. Find a Veteran allows Home Base Iowa businesses and communities access to all active veteran job seekers who have submitted their resume through the website. The program has had over 250 veteran resumes submitted in 2018.
“The ‘Find a Veteran’ feature makes it so much easier to connect veterans and employers,” Director Townsend said, who retired from the Air Force after 21 years of active and reserve duty. “Employers can contact job-seeking veterans directly and quickly after the veterans post their resume. This streamlines the hiring process for both parties and provides a pool of talented veteran job candidates to Iowa businesses desperately seeking skilled workers. It's a win-win for Iowa to give back to veterans who have done so much for us while closing its skills gap at the same time.”
Businesses and communities are also alerted by email when a veteran resume is published with matching location and industry criteria. These features allow program partners to directly connect and market to veterans by providing businesses with a user-friendly platform to find veterans with the skills they need. Find a Veteran also helps communities market their opportunities and quality of life in order to attract veterans and their families.
Iowa offers many incentives to veterans and transitioning service members including no state taxes on military pension and veteran hiring preference, which allows veteran preferential treatment in hiring decisions for both public and private organizations. Additionally, the state of Iowa provides up to $7,500 for the down payment or closing costs of a home through the Iowa Finance Authority Military Homeownership Assistance Program. The state also provides in-state tuition rates for qualifying veterans, their spouses and their dependents.
Home Base Iowa designates qualified communities as centers of opportunity for military veterans based on four standards:
- Within a designated community, at least 10 percent of eligible, hiring businesses must become HBI businesses and pledged to hire veterans,
- Community develops its own incentive package for veterans,
- Community prominently displays Home Base Iowa Community designation, and
- Community must obtain a resolution of support from the appropriate local governing body
All three counties have met or exceeded these requirements. For more information on Home Base Iowa, please visit www.HomeBaseIowa.gov.
For more information contact:
Jason Kemp
515.725.1057 or 515.822.8951
Home Base Iowa Program Manager
jason.kemp@iwd.iowa.gov