Longtime Farm Credit Advocate Departs Board of Directors
Farm Credit of the Virginias (FCV) has announced that Scott County native and local leader William J. Franklin, Jr., has left the organization’s board of directors after 23 years. His tenure on the board supported FCV in providing financing to rural homeowners, farmers and landowners in 96 counties in Virginia, West Virginia and Maryland.
“We thank Bill for his many years of service and advocacy. For more than two decades Bill has been an asset to our organization and the producers we serve. Farm Credit works closely with our board of directors and relies on their strong leadership and vision, Bill has been a cornerstone in that partnership,” said CEO Peery Heldreth. “His diverse background in rural business and cooperative management has brought valuable insights to Farm Credit’s board discussion as it has worked to set effective strategies for growth and continued first-rate service.
Franklin is CEO of Scott County Telephone Cooperative in Gate City, Virginia, which provides voice and video service and home security systems to its rural member-owners. He has been with the telephone cooperative since 1994, prior to which he was an employee of Farm Credit.
“I very much enjoyed my work at Farm Credit and being able to help our local farmers and homeowners, so I jumped at the opportunity to serve on the board to continue my support for this important group of customers,” said Franklin. “Over my years on the board, we’ve helped lead Farm Credit to great success, including a major merger that positioned us to better serve our customers and helped grow our cooperative from $750 million to almost $2 billion in assets.”
Franklin is a Scott County, Virginia, native, and serves on the board of directors for AgFirst Farm Credit Bank, the wholesale funding bank for Farm Credit of the Virginias.
ABOUT FARM CREDIT OF THE VIRGINIAS
Farm Credit of the Virginias provides over $1.8 billion dollars in financing to more than 11,000 farmers, agribusinesses and rural homeowners throughout Virginia, West Virginia and western Maryland. Farm Credit is a cooperative capitalized largely through investments made by farmers, ranchers and the rural homeowners and businesses that borrow from them. In fact, as part of a nationwide network they are the largest single provider of agricultural credit in the United States and have been for over 100 years. Farm Credit helps maintain and improve the quality of life in rural America and on the farm through its constant commitment to competitive lending, expert financial services and for facilitating and sharing knowledge and resources through the Farm Credit Knowledge Center. For more information, visit www.FarmCreditKnowledgeCenter.com or www.FarmCreditofVirginias.com.