Over the past six years, JEDA has worked with four Goodwill organizations that serve South Carolina. These organizations have more than 40 retail outlets, have directly placed several hundred people into new jobs in 2010 and now employ more than 1,100 people across the state. Perhaps known mostly for its visible retail presence, Goodwill provides a wide range of services, including skills assessment, job-seeking resources and placement, and life skills and specific training for areas such as retail, food service and health care, along with teen and young adult services. Companies also can come to Goodwill to contract for support services such as grounds maintenance, packing and shipping and even production.

The $12.5 million in bond funding secured by Roper St. Francis Healthcare (RSFH) was used to finalize the acquisition of Lowcountry Medical Associates (LMA), one of the largest primary care group practices in the Palmetto State. The addition of LMA’s 23 offices, laboratory and two diagnostic imaging centers – along with its staff of 62 physicians and 319 employees – brings to more than 140 the number of physicians offering primary and specialty care at 53 locations in the Charleston metropolitan area through Roper St. Francis Physician Partners (RSFPP).

The $127 million in new, tax-exempt Series 2009 fixed-rate bonds refinanced the healthcare system’s Series 2003B bonds and funded hospital improvements. JEDA funding has helped Palmetto Health achieve such landmarks as the opening of their new 124-bed heart hospital and 800-car parking garage and helped achieve new savings as they refunded older bonds at a more favorable rate.

The $9 million in tax-exempt bond funding secured by the Institute for Business & Home Safety (IBHS) was used to help finance a state-of-the-art, multi-peril applied research and training laboratory on a 90-acre site near Chester, SC. The site is used for full-scale testing of residential, light commercial and agriculture structures against the destructive forces of wind, hail, rain and fire. It includes a laboratory, display hall and outdoor testing areas, all built and operated with extensive use of natural sound barriers and landscaping, renewable energy sources, and reclamation and cleaning of water and air used in testing.

The $2.6 million tax-exempt bond issue was used by the East Cooper Montessori Charter School for permanent financing of a new eight- classroom, 13,000 sq. ft., building to include a computer lab, smart boards in each classroom and a grand hall. The school serves grades 1 through 8 and has grown its student body population from 44 students in 2003 to nearly 200 students today.

This funding was made possible by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, as The Stimulus Act allows 501(c)(3) organizations, such as this school, to access lower interest rates and longer-term financing with their own tax-exempt, bank-qualified bond limits.

The $43.7 million in tax-exempt bonds secured by The MUSC Foundation provides permanent financing at a favorable tax- exempt rate for three key facilities at the medical school and hospital complex. They include a 78,000-square-foot medical office building and 153-space parking lot on Cannon St.; a 2,800-square-foot medical office building and 20 parking spaces on Bee St.; and a 1,525-space parking garage serving the Medical University Hospital Authority's Ashley River Tower, home to MUSC's Heart & Vascular Center and Digestive Disease Center.

MUSC has been able to accomplish more with limited resources through solid, innovative financing options through JEDA, allowing them to spend less on facilities and more on providing care, supporting research and educating future healthcare providers.

The proceeds of the $41.1 million tax-exempt bonds issued were used to refinance at a more favorable rate the balance of a $60.6 million bond issued in 1999 by JEDA for AnMed Health. In 2009, JEDA also issued $220 million in bonds for AnMed Health to finance capital improvements and refinance other bonds. Since 2001, the organization has become the first in the state to install an all- digital mammography system, as well as opened the AnMed Health Rehabilitation Hospital and AnMed Health Women's and Children's Hospital, a cancer treatment center and a cardiac diagnostic and rehabilitation facility. JEDA funding has helped AnMed accomplish this in a fiscally prudent way.

The $28.3 million in tax-exempt revenue bonds for Oconee Medical Center, a 169-bed facility in Seneca, were purchased directly by Regions Bank and used to refinance a $29.4 million bond issue from 2005, reducing the hospital's debt service and helping it improve their financial position, which helped them better fulfill their mission. 

Oconee Medical Center was able to take advantage of some special federal tax rules applicable to smaller tax-exempt borrowings that made the deal more attractive to banks that purchase the bonds.

Mast General Store used $2 million in Recovery Zone Facility Bonds – the first such issue in South Carolina – to help convert a former department store on Main Street in Columbia, SC, into one of its popular general merchandise stores, which will open Summer 2011. Mast General Store’s commitment is a significant boon to the area, creating a new level of excitement and optimism surrounding the revitalization of Columbia’s Main Street.

The low-interest bonds came through JEDA, utilizing facility bond allocations that the City of Columbia and Richland County received through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

The $15.5 million in tax-exempt bond funding secured by The Lander Foundation will help build the university’s new Recreation, Wellness and Sports Complex, as well as the Lander University Equestrian Center which will be fully operational in 2011. The 25-acre Recreation, Wellness and Sports Complex will provide soccer, baseball, softball and tennis facilities and recreational space to the school and to the general community. The 37-acre Equestrian Center will be home to both Lander's equestrian team and to therapeutic riding programs offered by the non-profit Burton Center for people with disabilities and other special needs.

This funding is a public-private partnership, an ideal financing vehicle for economic and community growth during tough budget times.

The $24.2 million in tax-exempt bonds secured by Goodwill Industries of Lower South Carolina refinanced at a favorable rate earlier JEDA bonds that helped create 250 jobs through six stores, a community service center and a distribution center.

This bond issue will also fund the opening of three new Goodwill stores in Sumter, Conway and Summerville, SC. JEDA bond funding has allowed Goodwill to expand and to purchase their property instead of leasing, which in turn helps them secure revenues and spend less on facilities, ultimately allowing them to serve more people in more communities.

The $51.9 million in tax-exempt student housing revenue bonds and another $145,000 in taxable bonds secured for Coastal Housing Foundation, LLC were used to purchase the former Campus Edge apartment complex near the Conway campus. The 1,092-bed complex was joined with another apartment complex the 8,500- student school already owned to form the 46-building University Place, providing much-needed, student-only housing, ultimately increasing retention rates.

This deal was a well-orchestrated collaboration on a tight schedule with JEDA, the Budget and Control Board, the State Treasurer’s Office, the CCU Board of Trustees, CCU’s Student Housing Foundation Board and the Management Board of the Coastal Housing Foundation.

The $51.9 million in tax-exempt student housing revenue bonds and another $145,000 in taxable bonds secured for Coastal Housing Foundation, LLC were used to purchase the former Campus Edge apartment complex near the Conway campus. The 1,092-bed complex was joined with another apartment complex the 8,500- student school already owned to form the 46-building University Place, providing much-needed, student-only housing, ultimately increasing retention rates.

This deal was a well-orchestrated collaboration on a tight schedule with JEDA, the Budget and Control Board, the State Treasurer’s Office, the CCU Board of Trustees, CCU’s Student Housing Foundation Board and the Management Board of the Coastal Housing Foundation.