BY ANNE MICHAUD
The Cincinnati Enquirer
It may be the first concrete step toward regional cooperation after all the talk.
Ten Tristate economic development agencies have pooled their resources, for the first time, to sell the region to the world. They have hired a consultant who will identify the Tristate's strengths and select certain industries and companies to woo.
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WORKING TOGETHER
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Ten chambers of commerce and other development interests are pooling their resources for the first time. They are:
The Dearborn County Chamber of Commerce.
The Economic Development Association of Butler County.
The Mason-Landen-Kings Chamber of Commerce, Warren County.
The Tri County Economic Development Corp. (Tri-ED), Northern Kentucky.
The Clermont County Chamber of Commerce.
The City of Cincinnati.
Downtown Cincinnati Inc. (DCI).
The Hamilton County Development Co.
Cinergy Corp.
The Greater Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce.
Source: The Greater Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce
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The approach is new, said John Fonner of the Greater Cincinnati Area Chamber of Commerce, because the result will have Dearborn County, Ind., using the same sales pitch as Cincinnati, Warren County or Northern Kentucky.
"When someone in California sees 10 different brochures, they don't know where this is," he said.
Consultant Wadley-Donovan Group of Morristown, N.J., will be paid $80,000 for the study, which is due in November.
Initial impressions are that the new presence of Japanese, French and Belgian companies bodes well for attracting international interest, said Bill Fredrick of Wadley-Donovan.
Also, he has been surprised by the number of research and development operations here -- employing engineers, technicians and scientists. "It's obviously a living environment that keeps these people happy," he said.
The study is the first activity by the new Partnership for Greater Cincinnati, a group of 10 chambers of commerce and other development interests. The group is led by the Greater Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce.
Each of the 10 is sharing the cost of hiring Wadley-Donovan, which did a similar study for the state of Kentucky a few years ago, Mr. Fonner said. Among the expected results are:
< li> Identify some companies by name that would be a particularly good fit with this region, whether or not they are thinking of relocating.
< li> Recommend specific marketing strategies such as identifying which industry trade shows are most productive, which publications to advertise in and what strengths of the region to highlight.
< li> Outline the competitive strengths and weaknesses of the region in terms of attracting three types of companies: white collar headquarters or support operations, research and development concerns, and high skill - high capital investment companies such as Cincinnati Milacron.
Mr. Fonner said the participating organizations are prepared to put aside jealousies.
"It doesn't matter whether the project (company) ends up in Ohio, Indiana or Kentucky because the whole region benefits," he said.
The Partnership for Greater Cincinnati was formed in May. Its goal is to raise $18.5 million over the next five years to attract 90,000 new jobs to the area, increase the population by 100,000 and double international companies, to 450 from 225.
The partnership concept came partly at the recommendation of the Metropolitan Growth Alliance, a regional cooperative effort launched in October.
