Snapping Shoals EMC recently donated $10,000 from the co-op’s unclaimed capital credit funds to the Henry County Development Authority. The Henry County Development Authority plans to use to funds to strengthen its small business initiatives.

In recent years, the Development Authority has worked with small businesses by partnering with the Service Corp of Retired Executives (SCORE) and the Small Business Development Center at Clayton State University. According to Kristen Miller, Henry County Development Authority’s Manager of Business Retention and Expansion, the Authority plans to expand its efforts by creating resource hubs around the county. These resource hubs will be located at the Development Authority office, the Chamber of Commerce office, the Henry County Tax Commissioner’s office and the McDonough library. Specific to the Library, the Development Authority plans to provide the Henry County Library System additional small business books, periodicals and other resources to be housed at the main library in McDonough, Miller said. Also, efforts are underway in creating a “virtual incubator” support framework on the Development Authority’s website.

The funds were allocated from Snapping Shoals EMC’s unclaimed capital credits. Capital credits, or margins, are the revenues that are over and above the cost of providing service for customer-owners of an electric co-op, such as Snapping Shoals, for a specific year after financial obligations have been met. Snapping Shoals EMC routinely refunds these capital credits to its members when its Board of Directors determines it is appropriate to do so. These unclaimed funds are used to support such programs as the Bright Ideas program, the Snapping Shoals EMC scholarship program and other community and economic projects.

Snapping Shoals Electric Membership Corporation is a consumer-owned electric cooperative providing electric service to approximately 95,000 homes and businesses in an eight-county area. Most of the utility’s service area is in Newton, Rockdale and Henry counties. Portions of DeKalb, Butts, Walton, Morgan and Jasper counties are also included. The company’s headquarters is on Brown Bridge Road in Newton County.

Photo: Danny Stone, Snapping Shoals EMC’s Manager of Economic Development, right, presents W.L. "Billy" Carter, HCDA Chairman, center, and Bob White, Executive Director of the HCDA, with a check for $10,000 from SSEMC’s unclaimed capital credits.