On behalf of the Alliance for Regional Development, I would like to thank all those who attended the Alliance’s strategy meeting hosted at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago on March 9. We were very pleased that Illinois, Indiana, and Wisconsin each had stakeholders from government, academia, and the private sector in attendance. We are also grateful to Purdue University’s Ed Morrison for leading the discussion, and for informative comments shared by Thomas Guevara, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Regional Affairs, U.S. Department of Commerce Economic Development Administration, and Alliance Wisconsin Chairman Paul Jones.
As you know, the Alliance is a groundbreaking coalition of high-level leaders like yourself, working together to strengthen the economic competitiveness of Chicago’s tri-state region. The Alliance was formed to bring awareness to the OECD review of our region, convene leaders interested in cross-jurisdictional collaboration, and implement strategic projects to grow the regional economy in the key areas of workforce development, innovation, transportation and logistics, and green growth.
In the three years since the creation of the Alliance, we have experienced a series of successes. In 2012, we began building a foundation to bring people together across state borders, and secured an amazing leadership team with Chairmen Paul Jones, Mike Mullen, and Jim Stanley. In 2013, we began identifying projects and, in partnership with the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, hosted a Summit on Regional Competitiveness with keynote remarks by the Governors of Illinois, Indiana, and Wisconsin.
Last year, the Alliance convened Working Teams comprised of more than 130 cross-sector leaders and subject experts from all three states, who met regularly and worked diligently on initiatives that were showcased at the Second Annual Summit on Regional Competitiveness again held in partnership with the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. Even with a challenging late-December event date, more than 200 people attended the Summit, with viewers from around the country logged on to the live web stream.
Now, in 2015 we are faced with the question, “What’s next?” In many ways, our group has accomplished what we set out to do and all of us should feel very proud of the great strides that have been made—news of which is there for all to see in postings and newsletters on the Alliance website and in the Alliance’s recent Progress Sheet. Regional economic development is challenging. The benefits, however, outweigh the struggles. It’s important to remember that our region is the third largest contributor to the national GDP yet as Deputy Assistant Secretary Guevara stated in his remarks, we continually underperform when compared to national averages. The OECD Review states that if employment in the metro-region had grown at the national rate during 1990-2010, the region would have gained nearly 600,000 more jobs than it has today. This cannot be forgotten. Meaningful change must continue to happen.
March 9 was just the beginning of the conversation and we are currently reviewing the responses in the Strategic Doing packets collected at the conclusion of the meeting. We will be assessing the responses and acting accordingly. In the meantime, we welcome additional feedback and guidance on the best way to safeguard the future growth of the regional economy.