Regional Cooperation: A Pathway to Economic Recovery

This is the third in NLC’s “An Economic View from Main Street” series of articles on topics and issues relating to cities and towns in the economic crisis.

Regional cooperation is a proven way to reduce costs, increase economic competitiveness, manage development impacts and create new opportunities and synergies between communities. This was true before the present economic crisis and is even more critical in a time of economic recession.

The long-term strength and stability of local jurisdictions depends on an economic region with a climate for growth, cultivated local assets and healthy, productive residents and businesses. As part of the national economic recovery strategy, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) supports these critical investments in regional development.

Significant funding is being made available for innovation, workforce development and education, infrastructure, energy efficiency and neighborhood stabilization. While not explicitly requiring a coordinated approach, ARRA presents an opportunity to local officials and other regional stakeholders to utilize and enhance current regional governance, or where networks are not in place, to develop new relationships across jurisdictions and sectors.

For example, in the Birmingham-Hoover, Ala. region, local elected officials formed the Alabama Green Initiative (AGI) to jointly pursue federal stimulus funding for projects that enhance sustainable community development, including: recycling; bio-fuel conversion; Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification; infrastructure improvements; and energy conservation.

Leaders in the Mahoning Valley, Ohio region collaborated for a $20 million federal stimulus grant to expand a rail line; a project that regional leaders say is critical to their future economic success and one that could not have moved forward without a joint effort.

Cities also cooperate with each other and other sectors as a way to share costs for services, particularly given decreases in their tax base as a result of the recession.

Suburban municipalities in southeastern Michigan have joined with a non profit organization specializing in weatherization and a local energy provider to develop the Regional Energy Office. The purpose of the office is to help smaller communities in the region identify and implement efficiency improvements on their aging municipal infrastructure. Aggregated purchasing and centralized administrative support allow the communities to take steps toward energy efficiency more affordably than they could on their own.

Other regions have been promoting regional cooperation for many years as a way to increase their competitive positions and to restructure their economies. For example, since 1959 the Metropolitan Development Association of Syracuse and Central New York Inc., (MDA) has been a catalyst for redevelopment of the region by working with local governments and the private sector to attract and create industries with high growth potential.

Robert Simpson, president and CEO of MDA, offered several “lessons learned” to local officials based on the success of MDA’s regional economic development plan, the Essential New York Initiative, including:

• Forge a unified vision for the region;
• Foster an entrepreneurial climate that encourages innovation and adaptation;
• Leverage educational assets, including colleges and universities;
• Facilitate collaboration within industry sectors;
• Participate in regional organizations even if they cannot or do not drive the regional economic development agenda; participation builds trust and respect; and
• Take advantage of the credibility and visibility of your local government by supporting the regional initiatives, even if that means following rather than leading.

Although the barriers to regional cooperation, including lack of trust among leaders in the region, disparate community goals or inability to agree on a particular regional strategy, are very real, the immediate and long-term benefits may prove worthy of the effort.