Area leaders hear what ‘Home Base Iowa’ takes

When some Jasper County officials found out their area could qualify for the perks of the Home Base Iowa program, there was definitely interest. Friday, about 10 officials and representatives of various agencies found out exactly what it takes to earn a Home Base Iowa designation.

Kathy Anderson, the project manager for Home Base Iowa, came to the Jasper County Courthouse to explain the benefits of the program, and how to get qualified. Home Base Iowa is a private-public partnership, led by Gov. Terry Branstad, to help communities attract and retain women and men who have recently ended their active duty, to help Iowa fill in the skill gaps in various trades.

Funded partly by the 2014 Home Base Iowa Act (SF 2352), the partnership offers home-purchasing, employment-placement and educational opportunities and aid that is designed to get former military to move to certain communities.

Jasper County Veterans Affairs Director Christopher Chartier introduced Anderson at the meeting and helped answer a few questions about how Jasper County might go about qualifying for the program.

“Some counties have qualified in as few as three months, while others have taken a little longer,” Anderson said. “This helps not only increase the work force in communities, but it also raises the skill level of that work force.”

The basic benefits of Home Base Iowa are:

• A military pension tax exemption for veterans who relocate to HBI communities.

• A hiring preference program that includes transferring a professional license into Iowa.

• Automatic in-state tuition rates at all Iowa colleges and universities for relocating veterans, spouses and dependents.

• Participation in a statewide online jobs database specifically aimed at skill sets attained in the military.

The basic requirements of earning a Home Base Iowa designation are:

• Getting area businesses to commit to hire a specified number of veterans by 2018, whether it is one or 100 or any number. Home Base Iowa won’t publish that total, but 10 percent of all private area businesses must sign on as part of the program.

• Submitting an incentive plan that goes above and beyond the statewide program and any regular government veterans benefits.

• Communities must agree to prominently display the Home Base Iowa Community designation. A $60 roadside metal sign must be displayed on a prominently entry point to the community.

• The community obtains written backing in seeking the designation from the appropriate local governing body — in the case of counties, the board of supervisors.

As of Monday, there were 12 qualified Home Base Iowa communities: the city of Marion along with Carroll, Clarke, Clay, Dubuque, Floyd, Greene, Hancock, Howard, Humboldt, Mitchell, Union and Webster counties.

Communities are not required to apply as either a city or a county, as it might be tough to get agreement across a vast urban county, but a specified area is important because business licenses and real estate are typically grouped by counties.

As the project manager, Anderson decides if areas have met the requirements. She said it hasn’t been difficult, in the year or so the program has been up and running, no community has lost its designation.

Anderson mentioned Greene County as an example when discussing special incentive packages. Greene County, which was the first HBI community, offers $2,000 to each service member who relocates there — $4,000 if both spouses were both active duty.

The U.S. military is in the midst of major down-sizing. The Army has announced it is set to lose 18,200 soldiers in 2015 alone. Much of the meeting focused on what Jasper County needs to do on a county level.

Chartier said he’d like to form a committee soon, as did Goodwill Career Connection Center’s Miranda Kulis and two Jasper County Supervisors. Kulis was at Friday’s meeting, as was Greater Newton Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Craig Light and about seven other people.

Anderson said more than 30 of Iowa’s 99 counties have at least expressed interest in Home Base Iowa, along with a few municipalities, such as the city of Johnston. She markets the program nationally, with a focus on Internet search marketing and focuses on large military bases.

The project manager has made more than one trip to Fort Hood, Texas — the world’s largest base and home to more than 50,000 personnel. At a large job fair in January, several people recognized her as being part of the Iowa project before she even set up her booth.

Anderson said five families recently moved from Hawaii to Iowa — in the winter months — after learning about the state through the HBI program. The Wall Street Journal discussed Iowa’s pension tax exemption in a March 11 story.

Anderson said one key isn’t simply to get veterans with 21st-century skills to move to communities after discharge — keeping veterans in those communities is also important. “There are many ways to attack this,” Anderson said. “The next step is probably to get a committee together.”

Questions about Home Base Iowa can be directed by email to Anderson at kathy.anderson@iowa.gov or Chartier at va@jasper.ia.us. The website www.homebaseiowa.gov has links to other counties' Home Base Iowa pages.

Contact Jason W. Brooks at 641-792-3121 ext. 6532 or jbrooks@newtondailynews.com