On Tuesday, July 2, 2019, at the organization’s annual meeting in New York City, New York, John C. Lee was elected to serve as President of the board of directors of the National Cooperative Services Corporation (NCSC). Lee, president and CEO of Mecklenburg Electric Cooperative (MEC) and EMPOWER Broadband, Inc., was elected by his fellow directors and, as one of his new duties, will chair upcoming meetings of the board.
Lee is currently serving in his third three-year term on the Board of the Dulles, Virginia-based utility finance corporation. He was elected to the Board by a vote of the membership of 430 electric cooperatives across the nation and represents District 1. District 1 encompasses the states of Connecticut, Delaware, Indiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, and West Virginia and includes the District of Columbia.
“NCSC is a valuable resource for our nation’s cooperatives, and I am honored to be elected by my peers on this very capable and competent board to serve as president of the organization. Throughout its history, NCSC has been an agile lender, and able to adapt to meeting the changing needs of its membership, as is its mission…one thing that has not changed, however, is our discipline with regard to risk. And while we continue NCSC’s legacy of offering credit alternatives for more non-traditional electric utility purposes, we do so with a focused eye on maintaining NCSC’s strong balance sheet, so that it can continue to be a viable option for those with unique needs,” Lee states.
He continues, “I am very proud of the meaningful work done by NCSC. I look forward to serving as president, continuing the prudent growth of our loan portfolio, and advancing the organization guided by our proven cooperative principles. The collective efforts of the board and staff over the past few years have made the organization stronger, and we have maintained and enhanced the cooperative’s sound fiscal condition. Perhaps most importantly, we have put NCSC in a robust position to continue offering competitive financing opportunities to those it serves, now and into the future.”
Lee closes by saying, “NCSC is financially strong, well-grounded but appropriately mobile, and I believe, positively positioned for future success. I am grateful that the cooperative membership across the country has allowed me the privilege of representing them on the governing body of this beneficial organization, and I’ll continue to do my best to validate their decision to do so.”
NCSC is a privately funded, member-owned cooperative that began operation in 1981 to provide specialized financing services to utilities. Its portfolio includes in excess of $750 million in outstanding loans to cooperatives, cooperative subsidiaries, and investor-owned utilities. The organization has assisted cooperatives in expanding their reach through loans for telecommunications, non-electric products, and economic development by providing competitive financing.
Providing loans for economic and business development through its associate loan program is an additional value NCSC provides to assist its members in becoming more competitive. These loans provide the means for electric cooperatives, through their subsidiary organizations, to offer non-electric services to their members and invest in local community projects.
NCSC has also funded many types of projects through the associate loan program, including community development efforts, water/wastewater projects, and propane services. The organization is governed by a 10-member board of directors, democratically elected to represent five geographic districts.