East-Central Iowa REC invests in the communities we serve in many ways. At its December 2018 meeting, our Board of Directors approved a resolution to apply to secure USDA Rural Economic Development Loan and Grant (REDL&G) funds to provide a loan to support the construction of Pipho and Gingrich Family Dentistry, a new dental clinic in Dysart.

In October, representatives from ECI REC and the Iowa Area Development Group (IADG) met with business partners Dr. Bob Pipho and Dr. Sarah Gingrich to finalize the $480,000 loan documentation. Right across the street from the original building, construction of the new 2,100 square-foot building was well underway. The move to the new office is slated for December.

Upon Dr. Pipho’s 2015 acquisition of McLaughlin Family Dentistry in Dysart, he and Dr. Gingrich formed a partnership with goals to expand and upgrade the services they provide. The new building will have five treatment rooms, an image room, a larger front lobby, three restrooms, an employee lounge, and office space, as well as a large lot for convenient patient parking.

The doctors’ Iowa roots run deep, as both Pipho and Gingrich are natives of La Porte City and graduates of Union High School and the University of Iowa. Their mission is to provide high-quality, comprehensive, affordable dental care for the lifetime of their patients in Dysart and the surrounding rural communities, including Traer, Clutier, Tama, Belle Plaine, Waterloo, and Cedar Falls.

Their business location and service area made supporting their initiative for a new clinic a great fit for ECI REC’s co-sponsorship of the REDL&G loan, since Cooperative members live in and around these towns. The doctors are also no strangers to electric cooperatives, as Dr. Pipho and his family live on ECI REC lines. Dr. Gingrich was raised on a family farm also served by ECI REC.

Bruce Nuzum, the Iowa Area Development Group’s Senior VP of Finance and Operations, was onsite to facilitate the documentation. ECI REC’s Director Don Shonka, CEO Steve Marlow, Manager of Finance/Consumer Service Teresa Floyd, and Director of Member Service Adam Albertsen were on hand to present the check.

The Rural Economic Development Loan and Grant program provides funding for rural projects through local utility organizations. The USDA provides zero-interest loans to local utilities which they, in turn, pass to local businesses for projects that will create and retain employment in rural areas.