Charles City Designated as Home Base Iowa Community; Recognition Ceremony Oct. 1

Charles City has received designation as a Home Base Iowa community. 

Home Base Iowa Communities is a statewide initiative designed to integrate service veterans into the workforce, and offers incentives for veterans who move to the community. Floyd County was certified as a Home Base Iowa community on September 23, 2014.

Tim Fox, Chief Executive Officer of the Charles City Area Development Corporation (CCADC), said, “A programmatic requirement is that 10% of businesses in the jurisdiction must be Home Base certified. We identified the 63 largest employers in Floyd County; 31 of them became certified,” 

Each Home Base community in Iowa differs in the incentives they offer, with Floyd County offering a $10,000, zero-interest loan to qualified veterans that is to be used for purchasing a home. The loan is repayable over 60 months from the Floyd County Board of Supervisors. 

Administered by the CCADC, recipients of the loan can use money towards down payments and/or closing costs when purchasing a home, as well as home renovations. To date, the CCADC has processed seven successful loan packages for veterans.

A public ceremony honoring Charles City with its Home Base designation is scheduled for 10 AM Thursday, October 1, at City Hall. Anticipated speakers include Home Base Iowa program manager Robert Heage, regional Home Base Iowa career planner Adam Blanchard, Charles City Mayor Dean Andrews, Floyd County Board of Supervisors chair Gloria Carr, and Charles City councilmen and veterans Phillip Knighten and Patrick Lumley.