Lansing Regional Chamber of Commerce to Lead Major Initiative to Build a Regional Vision
Thursday, January 30, 2014
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Posted by: Michelle Rahl
For
Immediate Release Ross Woodstock January 29, 2014 Kolt
Communications, Inc 517-706-0001/517-410-7636 Ross@koltpr.com
Lansing Regional Chamber of Commerce to Lead Major Initiative to Build
a Regional Vision
(Lansing, MI) – The Lansing Regional Chamber
of Commerce (LRCC) will join with Clinton, Eaton & Ingham counties and
other community partners to develop a broader regional vision for Greater
Lansing. The regionalism effort will seek to bring together organizations
including the LRCC, Michigan State University, business and community leaders
and local units of government in the tri-county region in creating a regional
forum that has previously not existed.
"We have a window of opportunity to build on
the momentum that has developed and begin to build a regional vision for
Greater Lansing that is supported by all,” said Tim Daman, LRCC president &
CEO. "The Chamber has a responsibility to our members and business community to
provide the leadership in moving the entire region forward.”
The new
regionalism initiative will seek to build on the foundation of success that has
been achieved in regional collaboration in the past couple of years. LRCC,
Michigan State University, LEAP, Inc. and local business leaders have initiated
several efforts towards establishing a regional vision, including the creation
of an economic scorecard which compared the cost of local government in Greater
Lansing with other regions around the country. The region has taken several
steps forward since the scorecard was developed. Most notably, a Shared Fire
Services Initiative involving six local units of government has made
significant progress in offering more efficient and effective fire services to
residents of the region.
"We have a new
generation of leaders in our region who have demonstrated they are willing to
cross government boundaries and work together like never before,” said Daman.
"The collaborations that are already in place have resulted in a new level of
trust and respect that we must build upon if we are going to be successful.”
LRCC recently
partnered with Marketing Resource Group (MRG) to conduct a telephone survey of
600 residents of Ingham, Eaton and Clinton
counties. The research was designed to determine how residents feel about the
overall concept of regionalism and various aspects of regional cooperation. 82
percent of respondents said they supported regional cooperation, defined as
Greater Lansing businesses, local units of government and residents working
together through shared resources and decision-making for the good of the
entire Greater Lansing region.
In recent months
the LRCC has been meeting with the leadership from Clinton, Eaton & Ingham counties
to discuss the development of regional priorities. The LRCC plans to build upon
these discussions with additional stakeholders throughout the region to further
establish the framework for the regionalism initiative. Some of the major
themes that need to be a significant part of the discussion include: good
governance, economic development, higher education, talent development and
retention and public policy.
"It is our hope
that we can pull all of our community partners together in the near future for
a GREATer Lansing Regional Visioning Summit at which we can advance ideas and
strategies that will help us shape an agenda for regional collaboration that
will be embraced by the entire community,” said Daman.
The
mission of the Lansing Regional Chamber of Commerce (LRCC) is to be the
preeminent business advocacy organization in the Greater Lansing region by
collaborating for economic growth, creating new opportunities for our members
and upholding pro-business ideals through the advancement of sound public
policy. More information about LRCC and its programs and services can be found
on any of its social media platforms, including www.lansingchamber.org, Facebook,
Twitter (@Lansing Chamber), LinkedIn and YouTube.
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