June 19, 2018 - (Vinton, Iowa) State officials announced today that Benton County has received the designation as the 82nd Home Base Iowa Community.
Iowa Workforce Development Director Beth Townsend was on hand to recognize and celebrate the accomplishment. The event was hosted by local businesses, community leaders and veterans.
"As a veteran myself, I can tell you this program is making a difference and connecting veterans and transitioning service members with great communities and jobs,” said Director Townsend. “Veterans are strong assets to the workforce and will help Iowa close its skills gap and reach its Future Ready Iowa goal in which 70 percent of the workforce has education or training beyond high school by 2025.”
Momentum for the program has continued to expand with growing support from additional cities, counties and businesses across Iowa.
Home Base Iowa is a one-of-a-kind program assisting veterans and transitioning service members by helping to connect them with almost 2,000 Iowa businesses statewide that have pledged to hire over 10,000 veterans. Home Base Iowa connects veterans with businesses, communities, higher education partners and statewide resources which support veterans.
The Find a Veteran website feature is one of the unique features of Home Base Iowa. Find a Veteran allows Home Base Iowa businesses and communities to log-in anytime and search veteran profiles. They 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 outreach to veterans by providing a user-friendly platform to find and attract veterans with the skills they need.
Veterans also receive resume and job placement assistance through their local IowaWORKS centers throughout the state.
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 Home Base Iowa 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
The Benton County has met or exceeded these requirements. For more information on Home Base Iowa, please visit www.HomeBaseIowa.gov.
For more information contact:
Jason Kemp
515.822.8951
Home Base Iowa Program Manager
jason.kemp@iwd.iowa.gov