Wednesday, January 17, 2007

2006-12-04 11:47 (New York)

NEW YORK (Standard & Poor’s) Dec. 4, 2006–Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services raised its rating on Westchester County Industrial Development Agency, N.Y.’s civic facility revenue bonds, series 2004, issued for Guiding Eyes for the Blind, to ‘BBB+’ from ‘BBB’, reflecting the organization’s continued strong annual operating performance, good growth in its levels of cash and investments, and the near completion of some major capital improvements. The outlook is stable.

The ‘BBB+’ rating specifically reflects Guiding Eyes’ long history of positive financial operations with good surpluses; cash and investments that total $50 million, representing nearly 360% of operations and more than 700% of debt; role and niche as one of the top trainers and providers of guide dogs in the United States; experienced management team, coupled with an involved and dedicated board; and manageable debt burden, with no plans for any additional debt.

Offsetting factors include Guiding Eyes’ large reliance on direct mail fundraising for more than 30% of its annual operating income; dependence on bequests for another one-third of its operating income; and very high costs associated with breeding, training, and placing guide dogs with students.

Bond proceeds are being used to fund a variety of capital improvements at Guiding Eyes’ main campus in Yorktown Heights, N.Y., about 35 miles north of New York City.

The stable outlook reflects the expectation that positive financial operations will continue as fundraising levels remain steady. There is also an expected maintenance of cash and investments with no additional debt. The raised rating affects $6.9 million in rated debt.

Complete ratings information is available to subscribers of RatingsDirect, the real-time Web-based source for Standard & Poor’s credit ratings, research, and risk analysis, at www.ratingsdirect.com. All ratings affected by this rating action can be found on Standard & Poor’s public Web site at www.standardandpoors.com; under Credit Ratings in the left navigation bar, select Find a Rating, then Credit Ratings Search.

Primary Credit Analyst: Joshua Stern, New York (1) 212-438-1718;
josh_stern@standardandpoors.com

Secondary Credit Analyst: Gwendolyn Shufro, New York (1) 212-438-2196;
gwendolyn_shufro@standardandpoors.com

Analytic services provided by Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services (“Ratings Services”) are the result of separate activities designed to preserve the independence and objectivity of ratings opinions. The credit ratings and observations contained herein are solely statements of opinion and not statements of fact or recommendations to purchase, hold, or sell any securities or make any other investment decisions. Accordingly, any user of the information contained herein should not rely on any credit rating or other opinion contained herein in making any investment decision. Ratings are based on information received by Ratings Services. Other divisions of Standard & Poor’s may have information that is not available to Ratings Services. Standard & Poor’s has established policies and procedures to maintain the confidentiality of non-public information received during the ratings process.

Ratings Services receives compensation for its ratings. Such compensation is normally paid either by the issuers of such securities or third parties participating in marketing the securities. While Standard & Poor’s reserves the right to disseminate the rating, it receives no payment for doing so, except for subscriptions to its publications. Additional information about our ratings fees is available at www.standardandpoors.com/usratingsfees.

Copyright (c) 2006, Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services