BY COLLEEN TOMS
VIBRANT MAGAZINE

It is said that people dream in black and white. When Steve Charest dreams, he dreams in Technicolor – IMAX size.

With a passion that is matched only by the magnitude of the projects he takes on, Charest, president and founder of King & Benton Development Corporation, is making an impact on Brantford in a huge way. Since being the first to tackle the city's derelict Brownfield sites, to investing in local organizations and events that affect the very lives of community residents, to embarking on a monumental industrial and retail development project that will change the social and economic fabric of this community, Charest, 41, is clearly a man who is driven.

And he's driven to succeed.

"We have a common theme in everything we do at King and Benton - we want to come up with ways to make things better. I want to continue to develop our social conscience and bring our kids back, they are looking for somebody to help them and I would like to see the community as a whole participate in those solutions so our youth once again feel like they belong."

Supporting organizations like the Why Not Mission, the local food bank, SPCA and Brant United Way is important to Charest and will help facilitate the community's revitalization.