Home Base Iowa connects QC employers with veterans seeking new careers

For many employers, recruiting talent to expand or fill their workforce ranks now tops their list of challenges. But a new Quad Cities partnership with Home Base Iowa (HBI) is providing a direct network for area employers to engage with veterans transitioning from the military into new careers.    

In August, HBI announced Scott County as its newest HBI Community. The program, which assists veterans and their families with finding employment, housing and other services, is a partnership between HBI, Scott County, the City of Davenport and the Quad Cities Chamber. Under the local HBI program, veterans who relocate to Scott County and work anywhere in the Quad Cities may be eligible for up to $8,000 in housing incentives and a reimbursement of up to $250, up to two times, for hotel and meal costs incurred while interviewing for a job in Scott County. 

But one of the key components of HBI is access – for both veterans and employers – to an online network that can connect employers who are hiring new workers with veterans and their spouses who are seeking jobs. 

“Through the HBI website, veterans can post their resumes, and businesses can post job listings and search the database of resumes,” said Emily Codling, who, as the Chamber’s new Manager, Talent, is responsible for administering the Scott County HBI program.

Statewide, HBI has a network of more than 2,400 military-friendly companies that have pledged to hire veterans. Veterans can search for opportunities and post their resumes at www.homebaseiowa.gov.

Codling said membership in the network is free for Quad Cities employers, including Illinois-based companies and organizations. The HBI website provides employers with a direct pipeline to veterans searching to transfer their military skills into new careers. 

“People who are in the military bring a great work ethic, work well with others and also can bring a level of integrity and loyalty to a business,” Codling said. 

The Chamber and HBI are also working with other area veteran resources, including IowaWORKS, Disabled American Veterans (DAV) and Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 299.

Codling said one of the difficulties for veterans leaving the military is to communicate how their skill sets in the service are transferrable to a civilian workforce. “But the skills they gained as soldiers are valuable to our area’s employers,” she said.

HBI also can connect military spouses with a variety of job openings across many industries. “One of our veterans said his wife was able to get help in her job search through the network,” Codling said. 

Among the Quad Cities companies that have joined HBI is John Deere, which was instrumental in the program’s expansion to Scott County. Other Quad Cities companies registered with HBI include Ascentra Credit Union, Concept Bath Systems, Genesis Health Systems, Happy Joe’s, HNI Corp., Kraft Heinz, Modern Woodmen of America and Per Mar Security. To join the HBI network or find a full list of participating employers, visit www.homebaseiowa.gov.

“HBI provides a pipeline to new candidates outside the area that area employers might not have had access to,” Codling said.