JEDA Bond Funding Helps Coker College Finance Expansion
HARTSVILLE, SC – Bond financing facilitated by the South Carolina Jobs-Economic Development Authority (JEDA) is helping Coker College enjoy significant savings on investments the school has already made in its 1,100-student Hartsville campus.
The four-year liberal arts institution is using proceeds from a new $6.7 million tax-exempt bond issue to replace a 2008 variable rate educational facilities revenue bond that had paid for several improvements.
Projects included expanding and renovating Belk Residence Hall, converting Coker Hall into a residential facility to accommodate enrollment growth, outfitting and equipping the campus library, and other improvements to academic and administrative facilities.
The new bond issue helped maintain the jobs of 180 fulltime employees and another 120 staff, including adjunct faculty and student workers. It also helped the school maintain its standing as one of the best baccalaureate colleges in the country, a ranking it’s earned from U.S. News & World Report for 16 consecutive years.
“Coker College is growing in enrollment and reputation. Effective use of funding opportunities such as JEDA bonds helps us continue our unprecedented progress,” said Gerald Silver, Vice President of Business Operations at Coker College.
“It is particularly gratifying to see institutions of high achievement like Coker College leverage the opportunities presented by this low interest rate environment. We’re pleased to have a role in the process,” said Kathy McKinney, Bond Counsel with Haynsworth Sinkler Boyd, P.A. in Greenville.
“Helping forward-thinking institutions like Coker College seize the opportunity to better educate promising young people is an ideal way for JEDA to meet its core mission of creating economic opportunity across South Carolina,” said Harry Huntley, JEDA Executive Director.