Late return on early withdrawal: the credit crisis clobbered the nation's No. 2 finanical center, and it'll take years for the Charlotte region to bounce back.

• Position: COVER STORY

BNC: Is the region's financial sector on the mend?

Vitner: The rate of decline has clearly moderated, but the industry is focused on containing losses more than growing. A good bit of the growth in financial services during the past decade in Charlotte has been in the investment-banking world--specifically tied to the structured-products industry. That industry is really at the center of the storm right now, and it has seen very little recovery.

Recovery will be slow this year?

It is likely to be slow for the next several years. We should see some improvement in 2010 if nothing else goes wrong, and there is always the potential for something to go wrong. The credit cycle seems to be elongated in this go-round. There have been extraordinary efforts put in place by the government to hold off mortgage foreclosures and to allow banks to keep struggling loans on their books. That means problems are hanging around longer.

What would happen to the region's economy if Bank of America moves its headquarters?

The immediate impact may not be bad. But longer term, as more decision makers are outside Charlotte, the region would suffer. The loss of any headquarters means that you no longer have the same commitment to the community.

Duke Energy CEO Jim Rogers says the region needs to diversify its economy.

It needs to diversify its economy, and it is diversified. The energy sector is becoming more important, but it is still small relative to banking. It is hard for a person or an entity to restructure an economy. But we are moving in that direction. The North Carolina Research Campus in Kannapolis holds great promise.

Why?

Because of how well it is funded and its tie-ins with universities. It will bring a lot more research-and-development jobs to Charlotte, and this will be a key growth industry in the 21st century. Every food company is going to have to identify the risks associated with its products and how its food interacts with different people. And that is going to involve a whole new body of research, which is at the heart of the biotech campus in Kannapolis.

How long will it take for the research campus to gain traction?

It's probably going to take at least 10 years to gain significant momentum, where you have a large nucleus of companies that help attract even more companies.

What can the region expect from the energy sector?

Virtually everyone involved in designing and building power plants has a presence here. The Shaw Group was one of the...