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 MetroBusinessNet, a Ford Foundation-supported national network of business-led civic organizations developed by FutureWorks, has released a new report entitled Imagine A Region&, which presents the experience of three years of research and technical assistance conducted in five metropolitan regions. A major conclusion of this work is that business suffers and overall regional prosperity is less where traffic congestion, sprawl, central-city decline, and affordable housing shortages are permitted continue or grow unabated. FutureWorks is a pioneer in the emerging field of sustainable and inclusive regional economic growth.
MetroBusinessNet engages regionally focused business-civic organizations in San Francisco, Chicago, Austin, St. Louis and Washington, D.C. Distinct from traditional business associations, business-civic organizations embrace multi-issue programs and form long-term relationships with government and nonprofits to solve complex problems like affordable housing, workforce development, environmental sustainability, and public transportation.
Imagine A Region& articulates a four-point agenda for business-civic organizations operating at the intersection of economic competitiveness, regionalism and social equity. FutureWorks partners in developing this agenda include The Bay Area Council, Chicago Metropolis 2020, the St. Louis Regional Chamber and Growth Association, the Greater Washington Board of Trade, and the Austin Area Research Organization. Objectives of the agenda include: (1) supporting and encouraging members to invest core operating resources in business activities that address regional disparities; (2) designing and advocating public policies that promote sustainable development goals and outcomes; (3) anchoring industrial growth clusters in the urban core; and (4) building long-term coalitions among business, government and nonprofits.
Imagine A Region& includes in-depth profiles of the five partner organizations that form MetroBusinessNet, summarizes key challenges facing business-civic organizations, and ends with a call to action setting a new, higher standard of civic engagement for business and civic institutions. Throughout the report, this enhanced engagment of the business sector is framed in terms of legitimate self-interest for long-term competitiveness and widely shared social prosperity.
For more information on Imagine A Region& and MetroBusinessNet, visit www.metrobusinessnet.net, or call FutureWorks at .
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