BB&T has partnered with West Virginia’s Brownfields Assistance Center (Center) to offer a 1-day training course designed to help WV’s community development practitioners understand and tackle the environmental and economic challenges around brownfields redevelopment. Marlo Scruggs of BB&T, the driving force behind the training, is working with Center staff at both Marshall and West Virginia Universities to offer the class in northern and southern West Virginia later this year.
“This session will give practitioners a solid foundation in real estate finance, specifically the challenges of developing and marketing a reclaimed brownfield. It’s not just the environmental remediation but effective collateralizing and risk mitigation of brownfield sites that make redevelopment of these parcels successful. This training will help those on the ground struggling to make these sites marketable make that critical connection.” George Carico, Center Program Coordinator at Marshall University, agrees. “There is a broad spectrum of stakeholders involved in these projects with widely divergent backgrounds. Linking the environmental and economic issues will help us as we continue our work to turn brownfields into viable properties.” NDC looks forward to working with BB&T and the Brownfields Assistance Center to develop this class and provide a valuable capacity building opportunity in West Virginia.