Market Slows EWCHEC Progress
Officials in charge of the East Williamson County Higher Education Center (EWCHEC) are experiencing a few setbacks in securing the funding necessary to build the facility.

As a result of drastic fluctuations in the economy, the boards of Temple College and Temple College at Taylor Foundation, the two bodies responsible for EWCHEC, will not seek a bond issue to fund the project, according to EWCHEC Executive Director Chuck McCarter.

That puts funding in the hands of banks willing to loan money for construction, and a once lengthy list of possible lenders is now dwindling as the market tightens its belt.

“We’re trying to do the best job we can in terms of finding the most appropriate funding for EWCHEC,” McCarter said. “At the same time, costs are rising.”

The current figure for purchase of infrastructure, land and the 25,000 square foot structure is $7.5 million, according to McCarter.

McCarter and other administrators are looking into what they consider the best options to fund the project, and careful negotiations with loan officers are likely to slow the operation down a few months.

“Hopefully it won’t be too long,” McCarter said. “We had anticipated opening in the fall of 2009, and now we’ve moved it back until the spring of 2010. It’s not anybody’s fault. The economy is so bad right now, we’re lucky to still have people investing in it.”

A year ago, McCarter was fielding calls from banks with offers; now, the group is struggling to keep the banks interested.

“Several banks are going back and forth in negotiations,” McCarter said. “We go over the terms when they make a proposal to us, and they take it back to their people ... It’s just the way banks are responding. They’re sensitive to loans of this size.”

All partners who have committed money to the project, including Texas Tech University, which signed on earlier this year, are still on board, waiting for negotiations to be complete, McCarter said.