Ken Paxton, executive director of Greene County Chamber and Development, had time at the podium at Gov Terry Branstad’s weekly press conference Dec. 3 to talk about the governor’s Home Base Iowa initiative for veterans.
Paxton said Greene County is being poised to welcome veterans to new jobs he predicts will be available in the county in the next few years.
At the press conference, Paxton said Jefferson and Greene County will have between 800 and 1,000 jobs to fill in the next few years. He has previously used the figure 805, broken down as follows: Hy-Vee, 140; Scranton Manufacturing, 70; new and expanded manufacturing, 75; a “business class” restaurant, 40; Greene County Medical Center, 30; attrition, 200; and the proposed Wild Rose Casino, 250.
‘We have jobs for men, for women, for part-time, for full-time, for disabled, so we think we’ve got a nice variety,” Paxton said at the press conference. “One of our kind of selling points is ‘Come to our county for two jobs, not one.’ Both the husband and wife can come and we can handle both of you.”
Paxton said at the press conference that banks in the area have pledged to waive closing costs on VA home loans, and that a task force is working to develop a comprehensive, centralized list of available jobs in the county, as well as a list of homes available for sale, rent or lease.
The Home Base Iowa public-private partnership was created to market Iowa to military veterans as a place to live. The program is open to all veterans, not only those now transitioning out of military service.
The initiative will designate “Home Base Businesses” and “Home Base Communities.” Home Base Businesses pledge to hire a specific number of military veterans; post their jobs openings on a Home Base Iowa website; and become members of the existing Skilled Iowa program.
If 10 percent of an area’s businesses achieve that status, a community can be designated as a Home Base Community. Other requirements include a welcome and incentive package to attract veterans to the community; a plan to prominently display the Home Base Community designation; and a resolution of support from the local governing body.
