[Alt text: A picture of two people with their backs to the camera walking arm and arm through the streets of their community.]
Importance of Community Development
First and foremost, community development is essential since it plays a direct and proactive role in impacting the quality of life of the residents of a town or city.
Proactive and effective community development creates the foundation for more prosperous, healthier, and happier lives for the community’s citizens. It facilitates a strong bond between people and healthy interaction between diverse, smaller communities living within a particular area.
Community development also contributes to business growth, attracts new talents as well as retains local talents from the community (thus enriching the human capital of the community), and can prevail over challenges and obstacles that come its way.
In a thriving and prosperous community, people also have greater purchasing power which, of course, helps in the growth of local businesses.
This, in turn, benefits the city through higher tax incomes which can be utilized appropriately by developing critical infrastructures and through introducing different programs and initiatives aimed at addressing various issues that will ultimately enrich the lives of its inhabitants.
We can thus see the circular nature of the whole affair. Also, effective community development translates to less crime and delinquency, less disparity between people of different communities, better job opportunities, and more.
On the other hand, places needing more meaningful community development activities quickly fall into stagnation, negatively affecting their business and economic environments and, ultimately, the inhabitants’ quality of life.
Jerome Karam and his team at JMK5 Holdings in Houston understand the importance of community development, and that’s why they are committed to creating more places for communities to thrive.
What Makes a Great Community of People and Important Markers of a Developed Community
When stakeholders of a community, governmental organizations, city councils, and boards, as well as private entities including businesses and the individual members of the community, come together and collaborate towards the betterment of the life in a community, that is a clear indication of a healthy and proactive community.
It merits mention here that community development often needs to be clarified with business and economic developments. Although these things are interrelated, community development, in stricter terms, refers to the process where members of a community act in a collective manner to find solutions to common problems and issues facing the community.
By way of an example, a once vibrant neighborhood in a small town has fallen into a state of neglect. To address this issue, local and community leaders collectively decide to uplift the state of the neighborhood through redevelopment, beautification projects, etc.
Local businesses like Jerome Karam’s JMK5 Holdings and government bodies can then work together to supply the resources and bring the projects to fruition. And once this is done, it increases the district’s curb appeal, helps raise property value, attracts outsiders and various small businesses, and breathes new life into the district.
This is a small example. Initiatives like this can only be taken at a place where the community spirit is high, and the community members take pride in and care enough about the place, town, or city they live in.
Quality Infrastructures and Community Development
Quality basic infrastructures like good schools, libraries, parks, community halls, etc., are important markers of a developed community.
At the same time, the latter must also include quality resources and care centers for the homeless, the elderly, the at-risk youth populations, etc.
Finally, a thriving community must also have enough good entertainment facilities, such as movie theaters, large shopping plazas and arcades, sports facilities, multi-purpose outdoor areas, and so on.
Facilities like these allow community members to engage socially and enjoy various fun and relaxation activities and create diverse opportunities for local small- and medium-sized businesses and entrepreneurs.
Jerome Karam and his team have worked hard to create and redevelop entertainment centers like these for the community to gather and socialize in.
Jerome Karam Houston and How Business Leaders Can Actively Contribute Towards the Betterment of a Community
In the past, large businesses often faced the flak for downgrading the quality of life of a community, and for good reasons, too.
Some negative issues companies created include land destruction, noise and air pollution, water contamination, and more. Fortunately, things have changed for the better as more and more businesses today are adopting sustainable growth strategies and are also looking to contribute actively towards the development of the communities they are located in and are an integral part of.
Jerome Karam of Houston, the former attorney turned developer, is a shining example of this trend. Jerome Karam, the founder, and CEO of JMK5 Holdings, already boasts of an envious portfolio as a redeveloper of properties, especially properties that have fallen into disuse.
His most notable projects include rebranding the Mall of the Mainland in Galveston County into Mainland City Centre and rehabilitating and repurposing the historical Falstaff Brewery in Galveston.
The Mainland City Centre already houses an actual indoor racetrack and is home to several restaurants, retailers, a movie theater, and a spa, and it is also home to Texas’ largest World Gym.
Additionally, a spacious, multi-purpose outdoor area has been erected for musical concerts, car shows, cookoffs, fairs, and festivals.
As for the Falstaff Brewery, it has already been repurposed into a sizeable three-story storage facility, ample car parking garage, an events center, and a rooftop boutique Falstaff Hotel.
Jerome Karam is also behind several important redevelopment projects in Houston City. Although some of his projects had met with opposition and also suffered from funding issues, the former Friendswood attorney had persisted with his plans with a dogged attitude since he was committed to altering the economic environment of the region and making Houston one of the best places in Texas to live and do business in.
Jerome Karam’s JMK5 Holdings is currently involved in redeveloping several Houston upscale communities.
