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Polk County hires newVSO; officials say veteran claims bring millions into local economy
Summary
Polk County introduced Joe Bell as its new veteran service officer, announced the VSO now operates five days a week under the Family and Community Outreach program, and reported roughly $3.1 million in expected veteran benefit dollars for 2025 if current claim trends continue.
Polk County on Wednesday formally introduced Joe Bell as the county’s new veteran service officer and heard officials say the office’s work is returning significant federal benefit dollars to the local economy.
Brent DeMoe, director of the county Family and Community Outreach (FCO) department, said the county hired Bell and moved the veteran service office under Program Manager Stephanie Gilbert to improve consistency after a staffing reduction. "One of the things we did is we hired mister Joe Bell," DeMoe said during the presentation.
Bell described his outreach approach and…
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