Charlotte receives $100000 to boost small businesses in underserved areas as part of a $500000 initiative across five Southeastern cities. A multiyear economic development initiative funded by the Truist Foundation has invested $500,000 to help revitalize business corridors in five Southeastern cities. Living Cities, a collaborative of foundations and financial institutions that raises and invests capital with an aim toward reducing the wealth gap, announced the grants, which were distributed through the Truist Foundation’s Breaking Barriers to Business, or B3, program. The B3 program is part of the foundation’s $22 million philanthropic effort called “Where It Starts.” Government agencies in Atlanta, Charlotte, Miami, Memphis and Nashville each received $100,000, which will be used to strengthen specific commercial corridors in those cities and invest directly in small-business owners and entrepreneurs, according to Living Cities. Partnerships with banks such as the one Living Cities developed with Truist are essential, Joe Scantlebury, president and CEO of Living Cities, told American Banker. “We know other institutions can do similar things,” he said.