Calhoun County, a small, land locked, rural county in the Florida panhandle, is making a big change when it comes to their local farming stock. Situated north of Panama City, and just south of Alabama and Georgia, the community has historically been a timber growing community but in recent years has begun to diversify their harvest.
In years past, hurricanes traveling through the Gulf would lose their momentum as they touched ground just south of Calhoun County. Hurricane Michael in 2018 was different, however, when it maintained its hurricane strength winds and rain as it tore through Calhoun County, leaving that year’s timber crop decimated. A once very reliable crop, timber has become much riskier as climate change makes normally predictable hurricanes more extreme.
With unused or devalued (due to hurricane damage) land in the county, solar farms present a new opportunity for economic investment and job growth. As a result, the Calhoun County Chamber of Commerce expressed its support for two new solar farms in the county, that will create about 500 temporary construction jobs and deliver approximately $600,000 in annual tax revenues to the county.
“Its an opportunity for clean energy development with low impact on county services and high yield on tax revenue, which is something we are desperate for in our area right now” said Kristy Terry, CEO of the Calhoun County Chamber of Commerce. “This development also puts us in a great position for future clean energy investment.”
In addition to supporting solar in their county, Kristy Terry and the chamber also started the North Florida Inland Long Term Recovery Group, a non-profit disaster recovery organization created to help individuals and families recover from Hurricane Michael and future storms.
