USDA RURAL DEVELOPMENT PROVIDES $1.4 MILLION LOAN TO
DAWSON WORKERS COOPERATIVE
Employees to Purchase Mill Facility
DAWSON, GEORGIA, March 31, 1998 -- Agriculture Under Secretary for Rural Development Jill Long Thompson today announced a $1.4 million Business & Industry loan guarantee to the Dawson Workers Owned Cooperative, LLC, of Dawson. The money is provided as part of the Community Adjustment and Investment Program (CAIP), the Clinton Administration's plan to offset job loss in the US related to changes in trade due to the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).
Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman said, "The Dawson Cooperative is a perfect example of what USDA is accomplishing with cooperative development assistance. This administration is firmly committed to the cooperative way of doing business. Cooperatives have proven to be beneficial to U.S. farmers over the years and now, worker-owned and other types of rural cooperatives are flourishing with USDA financial and technical assistance."
"USDA Rural Development is proud to be able to provide such direct help to this group of concerned employees who want to take charge of their futures," Long Thompson said about the project. "This loan illustrates the priority that USDA and the Clinton/Gore Administration has placed on providing jobs and economic opportunity to rural areas, particularly those that are affected by job loss and economic dislocation due to plant closures."
The Under Secretary presented a ceremonial check for the amount of the loan to Dianne Williams, Chairman of the Board, and Marcus Lemacks, CEO, of Dawson Workers Owned Cooperative.
150 employees of the Dawson Workers Owned Cooperative, which is mostly owned by women and minorities, used their salaries to finance the collateral used to secure the loan. The group will use the money to purchase the assets of cutting and sewing operation Almark Mills and to provide working capital for the management of the business. By acquiring the mill, the workers expect to save 220 jobs that would have otherwise been forced to leave the area.
CAIP and the North American Development Bank (NADBank) were established to provide assistance in areas adversely affected by the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). CAIP will partner with USDA and the Bank of Terrell to finance this unique business venture. CAIP is currently providing loans to businesses in approximately 50 American communities affected by NAFTA. The Dawson Workers Cooperative is the first of its kind to be funded by CAIP, and was made possible be strong community support from organizations such as Georgia Power, the S.W. Georgia RDC, the Boggs Rural Life Center, and by technical assistance provided to the cooperative in its formation by the USDA Rural Development State Office.
"Residents of this community are happy that these jobs will now be able to remain in the area," said Georgia Rural Development State Director Laura Meadows. "Rural Development every day tries to extend access to credit to rural communities that might be suffering from lack of employment opportunities for their residents. Hopefully this loan will help Dawson and the surrounding area continue to grow and thrive."
The USDA Rural Development mission area was created in 1994 and includes the Rural Business-Cooperative Service, the Rural Housing Service and the Rural Utilities Service. Its mission is to use the resources of USDA to provide an improved quality of life for the nation's 53 million rural people.
Contacts:
Rural Development GA State Director Laura Meadows
(706) 546-2162