Community and Economic Development (“Community Development”) is a dynamic, complex and ever-changing endeavor. Every community faces diff-erent challenges and chooses different strategies for revitalization.
Urban markets may face pressures such as rapid population growth and sky-rocketing land and development costs, resulting in affordability issues for low and moderate income residents.
Rural communities may face population losses and the lack of new community investments, resulting in declining property values and abandoned properties.
Vibrant communities are comprised of separate, yet interconnected components. These components include, but are not limited to, adequate infrastructure, quality education, workforce development, sufficient cultural and recreational facilities, access to health care and social services and employment opportunities.
Each community has its strengths and weaknesses and employs different strategies to improve the livability of the area. BB&T understands the com-plexity of the community development process and that a "one-size-fits-all" approach just doesn’t work. We, at BB&T firmly believe that community development is a long-term process that is most successful when the non-profit, public and private sectors work collectively to address the unique challenges each of our communities face. Non-profit organizations, such as Community Development Corporations (CDC), play a vital role in neighborhood revitalization. These organizations work at the grassroots level and unfor-tunately, are often understaffed and insufficiently resourced to fully execute their missions. Moreover, many of the less-established non-profits, who may be learning the development process, often lack the capacity to develop projects on their own.
Therefore, BB&T has created a comprehensive program for community development. The process we created and the Community Development Specialists (CDS) we employ help connect the various pieces of the development puzzle. Our puzzle solution results in new bricks and mortar projects, as well as the non-profit capacity building needed to support sustainable community revitalization.
