Iowa Workforce Development expects to streamline and improve coordination of job services for veterans after the creation of a new office that is bringing most veteran-related programs under the same leadership.

IWD’s new Office of Veteran Workforce Services will be led by Jamie Norton, who previously oversaw veteran-related programs at IowaWORKS job centers.

Norton said the new structure for the first time will have 16 Veteran Career Planners at IowaWORKS reporting to the same person instead of individual job center managers. They also will be working more closely with the five Career Planners who had been doing similar work through the Home Base Iowa program. At the same time, the HBI team will be shifting some of its focus to include more outreach duties, such as attending more out-of-state career fairs and spending more time with Iowa communities to educate them about HBI.

“We’ll be able to streamline the communications and work better overall,” Norton said. “I think it’s going to make it a lot more consistent across the state with what we’re doing across the board.”

IWD also maintains a team of Local Veterans Employment Representatives who work with employers to help them hire veterans. But that team will continue to report to IWD’s new Business Engagement Division.

“None of this should matter to the veterans,” Norton said. “They should just know that wherever they go, there’s going to be a dedicated person to help them.”

For more information on veteran workforce services, visit homebaseiowa.gov or the veterans service page at IowaWORKS.