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Franklin Southampton Economic Development Inc. President and CEO Karl T. Heck was one of 25 community leaders selected to participate in the 2025 cohort of the Community Investment Training program, an opportunity offered through the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond’s Rural Investment Collaborative. 

A release from the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond noted that this program provides training to community leaders from small towns and rural areas that assists them with developing investment-ready project proposals.

The 2025 cohort participants were selected by the Rural Investment Collaborative’s steering group and project development workgroup members from among more than 40 applications received, the release stated. Applicants came from rural regions within the Richmond Fed’s service area, which includes Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia. 

The release noted that each applicant was required to identify a community or economic development project to serve as their focus during the training and identify partners who could confirm that the project would support a broader community strategy.

Heck said it was an honor to be selected. The project he has been working on is called Franklin-Southampton Community Visioning.

“That’s a community leadership project that’s coming forward now,” he said. “We’ll be working in the community to support economic development, tourism, community engagement and other community development to help the community grow and prosper.”

He said he is looking forward to being part of the cohort and having community leaders help with Franklin-Southampton Community Visioning.

“We’ll help each other, as I understand it, with all of the projects, but that’s going to be ours, so that’ll be a true community development initiative,” he said.

The Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond news release stated that the Community Investment Training program is a 16-week course that equips rural leaders with the knowledge, skills and confidence to produce a viable community or economic development proposal. The Richmond Fed partners with Invest Appalachia, which provides the core curriculum for the training.

Heck was one of only two people selected from Hampton Roads.