Macon Electric Cooperative (MEC) takes pride in working diligently to help foster economic development opportunities for the benefit of new and/or existing businesses, local citizens, and non-profit organizations. MEC strives to offer meaningful resources and services that can help improve its communities one step at a time.
In partnership with Macon County Economic Development, Inc., Northeast Power, and Associated Electric Cooperative, MEC launched a workforce housing initiative in early 2022. This effort began with a review of our region’s workforce, or “market-rate,” housing inventory to understand where opportunities for growth existed and how we could play a role in that growth.
To assist with this area of need in our service territory, MEC contracted Hometown Housing, a comprehensive workforce housing solutions firm. Hometown Housing helped to analyze the current housing markets, uncover opportunities that exist and assist with program development to provide a sustainable solution to the local housing needs.
The first phase of this process was to assess the current housing market and begin to prospect with major, local employers to uncover the specific demands. This was done through housing surveys and employer housing workshops led by the Hometown Housing team. Most recently MEC and Hometown Housing conducted a town hall meeting with city and county officials to discuss viable options for workforce housing development in Macon County.
As we move forward with our initiative, we are excited to utilize the tools and information that were gathered by Hometown Housing and we are thankful for their assistance. Moving forward, Hometown Housing will no longer be directly assisting our efforts, but our partnership with Macon County Economic Development will continue, hosting an incentives session with local leaders in August and continuing to research viable options for developers seeking to construct housing for the “missing middle.” We look forward to continuing our success in addressing this issue for our communities and members.