This story appears in this morning’s Charleston Gazette.

By Eric Eyre
Charleston Gazette

The U.S. economy is “kind of sputtering along,” but that’s not a bad thing, BB&T CEO Kelly King told Charleston business leaders Wednesday night.

“That’s the way an economy has to rebuild itself during recovery, especially after a recession that was so deep and so broad,” said King, who heads the nation’s eighth-largest commercial bank.

Speaking at the Charleston Area Alliance’s “Annual Celebration” at the Clay Center, King said Americans shouldn’t expect a robust or “boomerang” economy during the next three to five years. Instead, he said, they’ll see slow, steady growth.

“What we need is jobs, jobs, jobs,” he said. “The recession is over. We are in recovery.”

King also spoke about the credit crisis in 2008. He said “billions and billions of dollars” of loans were made that shouldn’t have been made.

Even so, King said government leaders overreacted, “whipped the public into a frenzy” and destroyed confidence in the banking system. The fallout put “additional handcuffs” on banks, King said.

“I’m not saying banks had no culpability,” he said. “I’m trying to give perspective on this. If we want to play the blame game, there’s enough responsibility to go around.”

King said additional restrictions on bank lending were a mistake.

“If banks had less scrutiny, we could do better at what we do best. We create jobs,” said King, who became BB&T CEO in January 2009. “We’re not as capable of doing that today as we were before. That’s the sad reality.”

In 2008, BB&T accepted $3.1 billion in bailout money through the U.S. Treasury’s Troubled Asset Relief Program.

To prevent future collapses, King recommended that the Federal Reserve and U.S. Treasury create a system that would “aggregate, integrate and correlate” financial lending information.

“Nobody knew what was going on with the proliferation of subprime mortgages around the globe,” King said.

He added that companies must resist accumulating too much debt without building sufficient assets.

“It’s a good idea not to borrow too much money, and it’s a good idea to be diversified in your assets,” said King, who has worked for BB&T for 39 years.

King said global geopolitical issues and the U.S. government’s “out of control” $14.3 trillion debt threaten the nation’s future economic growth.

“We simply can not go many more years like this,” King said. “We have to get our fiscal house in order.

“We’ve been overspending, under-saving and over-borrowing. It’s important we have people in Washington willing to make the tough decisions.”

Winston Salem, N.C.-based BB&T has $157 billion in assets, more than 30,000 employees and 1,800 locations in 12 states and Washington, D.C. The bank is the largest mortgage lender in West Virginia and the state’s 31st largest employer.

BB&T purchased the former West Virginia-based One Valley Bank in 2000.

King concluded his talk by listing “five characteristics of top achievers”:

• Believe in what you’re trying to accomplish.

• Commit the time, energy and resources to make it happen.

• Train relentlessly to develop the skill set you need to accomplish your goals.

• Enjoy the journey.

• Keep a positive attitude.