Sheldon, Iowa — The assembled crowd at the Sheldon Veterans Memorial braved falling rain Tuesday afternoon to see O’Brien County receive their Home Base Iowa Designation from Iowa Governor Terry Branstad.
Home Base Iowa is an initiative implemented by the Governor to attract veterans completing their military service to live and work in the Hawkeye State. The Home Base Iowa initiative offers State incentives to these veterans, and communities wanting to receive a Home Base Iowa designation have incentives that they must put in place, as well.
Framed by the Sheldon Avenue of Flags, Governor Branstad told the crowd about some of the local O’Brien County incentives.
He also talked about some of the Home Base Iowa incentives being offered by the State of Iowa.
Branstad also recognized Northwest Iowa Community College for being designated a CHAMP Institution as part of the Home Base Iowa incentive.
Following the Designation Event in Sheldon, Branstad was off to Rock Rapids to present a Home Base Iowa Designation to Lyon County. At the Lyon County event, held at Glynlyon, Inc., a curriculum publisher and online academy, Governor Branstad echoed his comments in Sheldon.
The governor said that he sits on the governors’ council that advises the Pentagon. He says he has first-hand knowledge of the downsizing of the military. He says meanwhile, he is told by Iowa employers that they need people with skills. He says the Home Base Iowa initiative gives veterans many benefits including income tax incentives, home buyer incentives and tuition incentives. It also lets Iowa employers promote their job openings on military bases.
Branstad says that soon, a quarter of the counties in Iowa will be Home Base Iowa counties.
Also speaking at the Lyon County event were County Supervisor Randy Bosch; Tami Murray from Glynlyon, representing 60 Lyon County businesses who are Home Base Iowa businesses and want to hire vets; Jared Ageson, the new Lyon County Veterans Affairs Director Jared Ageson, and Northwest Iowa Community College president Aletha Stubbe who told about the CHAMP designation. For more on the CHAMP designation, click here.
On Wednesday morning the Governor will be presenting a Home Base Iowa Designation to Sioux County, before wrapping up his visit to northwest Iowa.
