The unique partnership of many organizations, including the City of White Sulphur Springs, Rural Development Partners, West Virginia Great Barrel Company, Homes for White Sulphur Springs, Greenbrier County and its County Commissioners, the Greenbrier, the Greenbrier Sporting Club and the Greenbrier Valley Community Foundation, announce the planned ground-breaking of a Wellness Center and Community Pool at the Dick Gunnoe Memorial Park in White Sulphur Springs on Saturday, Dec. 15.
Regional and local leaders as well as the general public are encouraged to celebrate the ground-breaking at 2 p.m. at the Dick Gunnoe Memorial Park in White Sulphur Springs.
Mayor Bruce Bowling commented, “It has, indeed, taken a village to make this happen. The city hopes to open the Wellness Center and the pool in the summer of 2019. The citizens of White Sulphur Springs and Greenbrier County are grateful to our many partners in this venture. The cooperative involvement of city, county, state and federal entities, nonprofits and the private sector is remarkable. And the gift from Rural Development Partners is most generous. Their involvement with the WV Great Barrel Company led to their gift of $75,000 which we want to publicly recognize and highlight.”
Rural Development Partners (RDP) is a Community Development Entity (CDE) with a mission to Revitalize Rural America through partnerships with communities, businesses, and government. As a CDE with a national service area, RDP is eligible to apply for an annual allocation of Federal New Markets Tax Credits (NMTCs). From 2004 through 2018, RDP has won eight NMTC awards from the U.S. Treasury totaling $541.7 million. RDP works to combine NMTCs with bank loans and tax credit investor funds to create more favorable financing solutions than are available through conventional lending and investing. To date, RDP has used NMTC financing to help more than 30 businesses and communities across the nation restore vitality through projects that provide impact, momentum and hope. RDP recently invested $15 million in NMTCs allocation for the WV Great Barrel Company to construct a new barrel manufacturing plant in White Sulphur Springs. Senator Joe Manchin and Senator Shelley Moore Capito both actively supported the award of New Market Tax Credits to the WVGBC and seek other opportunities for use of NMTCs in West Virginia.
Rural Development Partners’ gift of $75,000 for the Wellness Center and Pool was matched by the WV Great Barrel Company. The Greenbrier is contributing fitness equipment. Homes for White Sulphur Springs is furnishing professional project management for the project. The Greenbrier County Commissioners (Lowell Rose, Michael McClung and Woody Hanna) committed $250,000 toward rebuilding the pool. Members of the Greenbrier Sporting Club have matched County funding. Additional fundraising is underway through the fiscal sponsorship of the Greenbrier Valley Community Foundation. Tax deductible donations can be mailed to The Greenbrier County Community Foundation P.O. Box 1682, Lewisburg, WV 24901.
Many of these individuals and organizations first became involved in revitalizing White Sulphur Springs after the June 2016 Flood. Flood recovery support for impacted families led to building 36 homes at Hope Village, the creation of Brad Paisley Community Park, the United Way Rental Renewal Program, and building and repairing additional homes for residents in the Greenbrier Valley and West Virginia. Several leaders then focused on economic development for the area and founded the WV Great Barrel Company in White Sulphur Springs.
