Veteran representative urges Mills County to join Homebase Iowa; economic development staff give project updates

Rick Honeycutt, the local veteran employment representative for IowaWORKS, used the meeting’s public-comment period to urge Mills County supervisors to re-submit a resolution to participate in the Homebase Iowa program. "My name is Rick Honeycutt, and I'm the local veteran employment representative for Iowa Works," he told the board, explaining that membership would allow county residents and veterans to access state and Glenwood community incentives. Honeycutt said the county has about 1,200 veterans and described participation as a "gift program" that could bring state incentives to support veteran employment and services.

Board members and staff discussed how the county could resubmit the resolution and noted Glenwood’s existing Homebase Iowa community designation presents opportunities for county residents to “piggyback” on local incentives. Staff agreed to follow up with Honeycutt and bring the item back to a future agenda if needed.

On economic development, county staff provided updates on business retention and recruitment efforts, ongoing site-preparation work for redevelopment parcels and advisory‑committee formation for a large redevelopment site. Staff said some projects remain in early stages and that significant construction is not anticipated this year for several leads; outreach to potential tenants and hotel operators continues. Staff also reported removing salvaged materials and copper from a resource center site and said the county will reopen some burial-site areas after demolition and remediation work is complete.

The board did not take formal votes on Homebase Iowa or most economic-development leads during the meeting; staff committed to follow up after the holidays and to return with more detailed proposals when negotiations or site work progress.