West Florida Electric Cooperative Association, Inc.

WFEC funds hospital expansion

From left, Congressman Allen Boyd and WFEC Vice President of Member Services Gary Clark present a ceremonial check to Northwest Florida Community Hospital CEO John E. Allen.

U. S. Congressman Allen Boyd and West Florida Electric Cooperative officials have presented a $200,000 check to Northwest Florida Community Hospital for expansion of it facilities. The U. S. Department of Agriculture and WFEC have provided the funds to help the hospital meet a need for additional doctors' office space and an in-house physical therapy unit.

In seeking funds for the project, Northwest Florida Community Hospital has applied to the USDA for $1 million. On the hospital's behalf, WFEC also applied for an interest-free USDA Rural Business Enterprise Grant. The USDA approved WFEC's grant application, and WFEC will loan the money to the hospital at no interest.

"This will be an approximately $1.2 million construction project, with the remainder of the funding coming directly from the USDA," said Gary Clark, WFEC's Vice President of Marketing and Member Services. "The portion of the $1.2 million loaned by the Co-op will be used to provide the equipment and some of the additional resources the facility will need."

As the hospital repays WFEC, the Co-op will place the money in a revolving loan fund, or RLF, to be reloaned to finance start-up and growth of other businesses in the communities WFEC serves in Washington, Holmes, Jackson and Calhoun Counties. "This is a process that's going to have far-reaching impacts for our community over the next ten or 15 years," said Clark.

This is the second Rural Business Enterprise Grant WFEC has acquired and loaned to an area business for repayment into the RLF, which will be used support ongoing local economic development efforts. Congressman Boyd has been instrumental in ensuring USDA funds are available to electric co-ops, including WFEC, for rural economic development.

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