DGDC Annual Speakers Forum

Rodney Swink has had a long career working with communities interested in revitalization and

redevelopment. He led the North Carolina Main Street Program in the Department of Commerce

for twenty

Street towns plus countless others across the state. By facilitating the creation of community

visions, strategic plans, and public/private partnerships, Swink helped towns build capacity to

manage change. Under his direction communities reported more than $800 million of new

investment and thousands of business start

Street program director he also consulted in eleven states, assisted the National Main Street

Center and State of Florida in program evaluation, and he consulted in Bolivia and China.

A frequent speaker, Swink has addressed groups as diverse as the Southern Newspaper

Publishers Association, Arizona Public Service, Waterfronts Florida Partnership, Downtown

Ohio, Inc., Missouri Community Development Society, Rural Development/USDA and the

Tennessee Valley Authority, and others. He currently serves as an adjunct faculty member at

North Carolina State University College of Design and guest lecturer at other area universities.

A registered landscape architect, Swink has been active with the American Society of Landscape

Architects for over thirty years, serving in numerous state and national positions, including

President of the Society and Chair of the Council of Fellows. Swink has received numerous local,

state and national awards for his leadership and service to landscape architecture and to

community development.

In addition to his teaching duties in the College of Design, Rodney Swink, Landscape Architect,

offers consulting service to local governments, non

community development and downtown revitalization.