UCDD Approves Loan For New Childcare Facility In Carthage

A new childcare facility will be coming to Carthage that will help a region-wide capacity issue.

The UCDD Executive Committee approved a $200,000 loan to the operator for renovations.

“It’s a much needed thing in our community,” Smith County Mayor Jeff Mason said. “April comes from a great family. She has a heart for this. I look forward to what she can do for our community.”

April Brooks owns Little Sunshine’s Academy, who has 20 years of pediatrics and five years of childcare experience. It will be located in an existing building on Eatherly Landing Road.

Loan Officer Jesse Villard said the facility has 70 children on the waiting list and will bring 20 jobs to the area. The center would serve children from six weeks to five-years-old.

“The total project cost is $790,000, “Villard said. “This is going to be the low-interest child-care loans at 0.5 percent at 20 years.”

The Executive Committee also approved a $75,000 for Cumberland Rehabilitation Services to establish a regional wellness center in Cookeville. As well as a $150,000 loan to a Cookeville water treatment company to relocate to Gainesboro.

Villard said Hall’s Water would renovate a location on Grundy Quarles Highway. Cumberland Rehabilitation Services’ new center to be located on North Washington would focus on congestive heart failure and diabetes patients.