It is one of the most important things in the institution,” said Dr. Kenneth Garren, president of the university. “I have never seen an institution that was more outwardly focused than the University of Lynchburg.”

Founded in 1903, the university is considered one of the city's “anchor institutions.”

"Our anchor institutions care a lot about community development because, frankly, the environment impacts them, right?" explained Steven Pedigo, a consultant hired by the city to work on a “Blueprint for Opportunity.”

The blueprint is a plan through 2023 for economic growth in Lynchburg. Goal two of the plan is focused on the anchor institutions.

Pedigo described a city’s anchors as universities, healthcare institutions, cultural facilities and large scale real estate developments. He said that the institutions hold significant investments in the community and have a major impact on revitalization.

City leaders have identified all of Lynchburg’s colleges, universities and the healthcare system as anchor institutions.

The city has already been working on leveraging relationships with some of these institutions. Nine years ago council members had the idea to start a Town and Gown, a yearly meeting with university and college presidents and stakeholders.

“I did not see it in terms of anchors and clusters, I saw it in the context of valuable resources and assets having six colleges and universities in this area,” said Council-member Randy Nelson. "We needed to get that synergy going.”

The goal of the blueprint is to take that to the next level: formalize the relationships, pull in Centra Health and set goals together. The goals could range from partnership programs to future investment.

"There certainly could be a Memorandum of Understanding that could talk about city investment in a certain area if the anchor institution was willing to invest in an area that was meaningful for them as well,” proposed Council-member Turner Perrow.