BY JOHN HOPKINS
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Admitting it's a very ambitious goal, some Tristate leaders have launched a plan to position the region as a global leader.
Despite dozens of political jurisdictions, cities and state boundaries, members of the Metropolitan Growth Alliance and Greater Cincinnati Foundation have joined forces in an effort to prepare the region for global competition in the 21st Century.
The alternative, they say, is to leave the region's future to chance.
The two groups issued a "Call to Action" Tuesday at the Queen City Club, downtown, before an audience of nearly 200 Tristate leaders.
"We are all part of the same region and we must work together to be successful," said Kathryn E. Merchant, president-CEO of the Greater Cincinnati Foundation.
In the coming months, the "Call to Action" is expected to utilize local leaders to participate in a community-wide, in-depth "Opportunities Analysis."
The analysis -- the foundation for future work -- will be an in-depth study of the region's assets and challenges that will be a foundation for future work.
Leaders hope the "Call to Action" will generate public excitement about regional cooperation. The public is urged to take part in three sets of public forums through April 1999.
Other metropolitan regions are already well ahead of the Tristate, said William Burleigh, co-chairman of the Metropolitan Growth Alliance and president-CEO of Cincinnati-based media giant E.W. Scripps Co.
Mr. Burleigh called areas such as Atlanta, Raleigh-Durham, Nashville and Charlotte "gazelles" because they lead the national pack in job and economic growth.
"If Cincinnati wants to run with the gazelles, it will have to change its ways," warned Mr. Burleigh, the first of three speakers at the Queen City Club.
Michael Gallis & Associates, an internationally recognized consulting firm, was retained to assemble a comprehensive picture of the Cincinnati region. Mr. Gallis and his associates will also conduct the public meetings.
"Our perspective is to look at the metropolitan region of Cincinnati, and then to look at it in relation to the larger region surrounding it, the nation and the global network of regions," Mr. Gallis said. Among Mr. Gallis' initial findings:
The North American Free Trade Agreement has caused a reorganization of industry in the Midwest. Although trade corridors linking Canada and Mexico appear to be developing just west of the Tristate, the region must find a way to join in.
The Cincinnati - Northern Kentucky International Airport is one of the region's strongest attributes, but the area lags behind Indianapolis and Columbus in rail transportation and interstate trucking.
Cincinnati and Dayton are the only cities in the "super region" growing towards one another. In fact, the two cities could grow to the extent of a population merger in the next century.
In a show of its commitment, The Greater Cincinnati Foundation presented a $100,000 grant Tuesday to help fund the Gallis study. Another $125,000 in contributions have come from the Tri-County Economic Development Fund, the Scripps Howard Foundation, the Metropolitan Club, Ohio National Financial Services and the Cinergy Foundation.
