In remarks at CFC’s 51st Annual Membership Meeting in New Orleans earlier this month, outgoing Board President Kent Farmer, president and CEO of Rappahannock Electric Cooperative in Virginia, told attendees that his time as a CFC director revealed how passionately CFC is dedicated to electric cooperatives.
“If my time on this board has taught me one golden rule, it’s that the ultimate goal of CFC is not about closing the next loan sale. It’s about helping co-ops succeed,” Farmer told the roughly 4,000 attendees. “Every aspect of the CFC business is focused on electric cooperative success and fulfilling CFC’s vision of being a trusted resource.”
He cited CFC’s financial tools like CFC BudgetPro or Compass to improve long-range forecasting; the annual KRTA that lets cooperatives benchmark their system health; strategic planning to improve long-term goals; rate studies to ensure economic success; publications that offer best practices; and best-in-class meetings, statewide workshops and training webinars for co-op staff and directors.
“Of course, all of these services do not to make light of the financial resource CFC is for all of us as well,” Farmer told the audience. He praised CFC’s quick response when natural disasters strike and emergency funds are needed immediately.
He also recognized that CFC pays fees on federal loans that have provided nearly $140 million to the Rural Economic Development Loan & Grant program that helps cooperatives bring business incubators, emergency vehicles and economic development to their communities. “CFC is building stronger co-op communities through its efforts to preserve this fund.”
As well, Farmer shared his pride in CFC’s commitment to rural electrification around the world and its matching grant program that supports statewide associations involved in NRECA International projects. He said CFC and NCSC have awarded more than $1 million since 2017 to assist with the cost of these trips.
“Last summer I journeyed to South America as part of my statewide’s UnitedWeLight team that brought power to five remote villages in Bolivia. The effort was life-changing for not only the rural Bolivians who now have electricity in their community, but also for every single cooperative line worker and employee who played a role in the trip—including me.”
He concluded: “I truly believe CFC has achieved its decades-long vision to be your most trusted financial resource. I also believe that even if CFC never loaned another dollar, it would remain the electric cooperative network’s best resource for success.”
“For CFC, electric cooperatives are not just a line of business. We are CFC’s sole business. And there is no other organization I trust more than CFC.”