On August 29, 2002, members of the myregion.org Project Leadership Team (Joel Hass, Shelley Lauten, Jennifer Amodt) joined a crowd of just over 300 citizens traveled to the Grand Valley State University - Eberhard Center in Grand Rapids, Michigan, to watch the West Michigan Strategic Alliance unveil their “Priorities for Regional Collaboration” developed through a regional development program very similar to myregion.org. The Alliance includes three urban hubs (West Michigan Tri-plex): Grand Rapids, Muskegon and the Holland area.

West Michigan, 1,330 miles away from Central Florida, hopes to address many of the same regional issues facing us here in the Central Florida area. While leaders there looked at many systems similar to myregion.org’s local focus – Environment, Education, Infrastructure, Governance, Transportation – West Michigan has discovered different problems facing its region.

One of the threats West Michigan defined is its lack of a common regional marketing identity for its tourism/convention industry. “Our ability to attract convention business is limited by the scarcity of direct/nonstop flights to the region.” In Central Florida, we have not experienced a lack of marketing identity. Central Florida is leading the tourism/convention industry with one of the top five convention locations in the nation.

“While the world is experiencing a transformation in information and telecommunications networks, parts of the Tri-plex are not keeping pace. The lack of access to broadband will hinder the future development of West Michigan.” By comparison, Central Florida is one of the most wired communities in the nation and has done a tremendous job keeping up with the ever-evolving world of technology. This asset will lead us to the top of the competitive Global Marketplace of the 21st century.

The West Michigan Strategic Alliance has just completed the final phase of its regional development project and discovered these and other threats facing the Tri-plex region of West Michigan. It has also developed some opportunities the region can build upon to “develop a collaborative, comprehensive, cross-jurisdictional environmental strategy for the region, engaging government, business, social services, nonprofits and the philanthropic community.”

Click here to learn more about the West Michigan Strategic Alliance.

myregion.org is one year away from unveiling its Community Framework identifying threats, observations and opportunities for Central Florida’s future. If you would like more information or would like to receive regional updates, please visit www.myregion.org or call Project Director, Shelley Lauten at 407-835-2444, Toll Free 1-800-900-5315.