The Georgia Environmental Finance Authority (GEFA) board of directors elected McRae-Helena Mayor Mike Young as chairman and Ted Rumley as vice chairman effective January 1, 2025. Young and Rumley were elected to their board leadership positions on November 14, 2024, and led their first GEFA board meeting on January 27, 2025.

Young was appointed to the board by Governor Brian P. Kemp in 2019 and has served as vice chairman since 2022. Young is a resident of McRae-Helena, Georgia, where he lives with his wife and daughter. 

Rumley was appointed to the board by Governor Brian P. Kemp in 2021. He previously served on the Dade County board of commissioners. Rumley lives in Dade County, Georgia, with his wife. 

“I am honored to serve the state of Georgia as chairman of the GEFA board of directors in 2025. Communities in Georgia often face challenges when it comes to building or upgrading environmental projects that place financial burdens on residents. GEFA, with its exceptional staff and board, helps these communities by providing low-interest funding, ensuring continued conservation and improvements to Georgia’s energy, land, and water resources. 

“We are seeing tremendous economic growth in many regions of our state, and the GEFA board and staff are fully committed to distributing the necessary funds to support this growth and long-term success. I am excited to see many of these projects through completion while continuing to provide funding to underserved communities facing infrastructure challenges,” said GEFA Chairman Mayor Mike Young.   

In fiscal year 2024, there were 147 water, wastewater, solid waste, and land conservation projects which exceeded $423 million and impacted more than 1 million Georgians.