Throughout their military careers, veterans generally had a duty station that was their home base.

Those veterans now have fresh incentives to make Fort Dodge and Webster County their new home base.

Those incentives — which include everything from tax breaks on building a home to discounts on restaurant meals – are part of a statewide effort called Home Base Iowa.

“We’re here to support our communities in creating an environment that will be supportive and attractive to veterans,” said Harrison Swift, program manager of Home Base Iowa.

Home Base Iowa was started about a decade ago by then Gov. Terry Branstad. Fort Dodge and Webster County joined it in March 2015.

But the program essentially went dormant both statewide and locally for a few years.

Now, it is coming back to Fort Dodge and Webster County.

The Webster County Veterans Affairs Commission and the Greater Fort Dodge Growth Alliance led the effort to create a rejuvenated local Home Base Iowa program.

Jefferson Fosbender, economic development director for the Growth Alliance, and Dan Lewandoski, the county’s veteran affairs director, worked with local officials and business leaders to assemble a variety of incentives to make the community attractive to veterans.

The result, Fosbender said, is that “we are really ahead of the game in Webster County.”

Swift said the local decision to get active with Home Base Iowa sends an important message.

“That just really, honestly shows their commitment to our veterans,” he said. “They’re opening their arms to our veterans.”

He added that Fort Dodge and Webster County have a “really good incentive package.”

That package includes:

• A five year 100 percent tax abatement from the city of Fort Dodge on the first $75,000 of a new home or home improvement

• Iowa resident tuition rates at Iowa Central Community College

• A wide variety of restaurant and hotel discounts

The full range of incentives can be viewed at greaterfortdodge.com/veterans.

Swift said he’s seen an increase in veterans expressing interest in the Fort Dodge region. He attributes that interest to the area’s low cost of living and relatively quick access to metro areas.

Statistics on the success of Home Base Iowa statewide have only been kept since June. Swift said since then, 58 veterans have contacted the program.

He said 29 of them were Iowans who were retained in the state with the help of the program.

Another 29 of those veterans are moving to Iowa from other states with help from the program, he said.

The Fort Dodge and Webster County Base Iowa effort is launching Monday, so statistics on it are not available.

For more information on the Home Base Iowa program in Fort Dodge and Webster County, visit greaterfortdodge.com/veterans.

Anyone with questions about the program can contact Jefferson Fosbender at (515) 227-7124 or jefferson@greaterfortdodge.com or Dan Lewandoski at 515-573-1479 or wcva@webstercountyia.gov.