Every community has its own unique attributes that make it attractive to new or expanding businesses. Those attributes are key for successful economic development — which leads to job creation and economic growth.
Electric cooperatives like yours work hand-in-hand with local and regional economic development corporations to foster growth and development opportunities. This is an important way to attract businesses and investments, and play a role in community planning and development initiatives that align with the growth that a community wants and needs.
Electric cooperatives offer potential commercial and industrial members the best applicable rate, meeting any specialized needs and simply providing businesses with the same reliable electric service that members receive in their homes.
Co-ops also invest in local infrastructure. That can go beyond just basic electricity. It can include upgraded substations and distribution lines, site-ready industrial parks with power just waiting to be connected, broadband expansion, and even extra EV charging opportunities to help with logistics and workforce mobility.
Offering faster interconnection timelines as well as incentives for large loads may also entice businesses — in such diverse sectors as automotive, manufacturing, quarry/mining, data centers, medical, retail, service industries, and education — to put down roots in a rural community.
Beyond that, co-ops may provide detailed site-selection data, load forecasts, and GIS mapping to ensure prospective investors have all the information required to make a wise decision.
Cooperatives can also support potential new businesses on the financing front, be it through a USDA Rural Economic Development Loan and Grant or simply by helping to secure all available state or federal incentives. Additional incentives or rebates for energy efficiency and renewable energy-related efforts may also be available.
Local electric cooperatives thrive when their communities thrive, and economic development is key to both.
Jeremy Bohn is the energy and member service advisor at RushShelby Energy in Manilla, Indiana
