Byran Paul, representing the Paul Family, originally made the offer at the May 2004 Board of Trustees meeting in LaBelle. The Board asked that a local task force be appointed to study the potential for enrollment in the next decade and make a recommendation.

Since that time, The Bonita Bay Group has entered into a partnership with the Paul family to develop a 5,200-acre master planned community located between SR 80 and SR 29. A 100-acre parcel within a planned academic village is set aside for a future Edison State College campus.

The Task Force studied population projections and growth corridors, and mailed a survey to employers in Hendry and Glades counties. Credit courses and non-credit training needs were identified, as well as facilities in which Edison classes could be scheduled on an interim basis.

Joining Hughes on the Task Force are: Thomas Conner, Superintendent of Schools, Hendry County; Kenneth Downing, member, Edison State College District Board of Trustees; Mitch Hutchcraft, Regional Vice President, Bonita Bay Group; John Huysman, Edison State College adjunct faculty member and Moore Haven High School teacher; Pat Langford, business owner and member, Hendry County School Board; Mali Chamness, Vice President, First Bank of Clewiston and Mayor of Clewiston; Bryan Paul, business owner and member, Edison State College Foundation Board; Julia G. Perry, member, Edison College District Board of Trustees; Julie Craichy Wilkins, Legal Assistant, City of LaBelle; and Geri Yoraschek, President, LaBelle Plumbing Corp.

Kenneth Curtis, benefactor of the College's Isabella Curtis Scholarship for LaBelle High School graduates, is delighted. "I've always wanted LaBelle to be a college town," he said.