HOLLIDAYSBURG - The chairman and chief executive officer of Boscov's NEWCO asked Blair County commissioners Tuesday to support his company's request for a federal loan that he and associates said poses no financial risk to the county.
Albert Boscov, whose family rescued 39 stores in early December from bankruptcy court and liquidation, said the new company had a financially successful Christmas and wants to keep moving forward.
To stay in business, the company prepared a $106 million financial package that includes a $35 million U.S. Housing and Urban Development loan. The loan is available to Boscov's through the state's Community and Economic Development agency, with support from six counties including Blair and Cambria, where Boscov's stores are located.
Boscov said he is confident that his company will be able to pay off the loan during the 20-year period.
''We're back to the 39 stores that have always been profitable,'' he said.
Commissioners agreed to vote Jan. 13 on the request.
While Commissioner Donna Gority is supportive, commissioners Terry Tomassetti and Diane Meling said they wanted a little more time to research and review materials.
Gority called Boscov's ''a good community partner'' and said she wanted to preserve jobs.
''This is something we can do, at no cost to the county, to create and keep jobs,'' Gority said.
Tomassetti said he received a document Tuesday morning that he, as chairman, must sign, indicating that the county looked for and found no other financial support. Boscov and associates assured Tomassetti that no other financial support exists.
''My biggest concern is whether the county is protected,'' Tomassetti said. ''If we're not going to have any liability, then I can't see why I wouldn't support it.''
Meling said she wants to see in writing the guarantees providing financial protection for the county.
''We've had promises from the state that have not been kept,'' said Meling, referencing the lack of reimbursement for full-time district attorney salaries. ''I want to be very sure that this is an ironclad indemnification.''
Walter J. Haglund, a consultant for the state Department of Community and Economic Development, told commissioners that the state has a loan loss fund of at least $500,000 that would be used to repay the federal government if Boscov's fails to make its payments. Because of that fund and the state's pledge, Blair's future Community Development Block Grant funds are not at risk, Haglund said.
The Blair County Planning Commission advertised and arranged two public hearings on the proposed loan.
The loan application is available in the For the Record section of the Mirror's Web site, which is at the attached link.
Mirror Staff Writer Kay Stephens is at 946-7456.
