PENSACOLA, Fla. -- The children and teens on the Escambia 4-H County Council voted yesterday to sell the 240 acres at their 4-H Center to Navy FCU, clearing the decks for a major expansion of the credit union’s giant call center campus here.
Navy Federal wants to purchase the land to expand its existing 65-acre, four-building Heritage Oaks call center campus that employees 2,200, adjacent to the 4-H land.
The young 4-H Council members, who represented 4-H clubs across the county, voted 21-16 in favor of the sale, which goes next to a vote of the Escambia County Commission. If they agree to deal, as expected, Navy Federal will pay $3.6 million for the property. The 4-H has used the Beulah land since it was donated to the group in 1943.
The $48 billion credit union giant announced plans last month to add as many as 600 employees at its call center here during the next year, bringing the current campus near its capacity of 3,000 employees. If the 4-H sale goes through, the credit union giant could add thousands more employees over the next two decades.
Under the deal, which has already been approved by the 4-H Foundation, a group of adults who oversee the operation and administration of the 4-H center, the state will provide $1.6 million in incentives for construction of the credit union facilities.
