MACKINAC 2007: Regionalism must be ‘way of life,’ Edsel Ford II says

Source: Crain's Detroit Business
By: Jennette Smith
Published: May 30, 2007

MACKINAC ISLAND — An opening session for the Mackinac Policy Conference served as a rallying cry for the One D collaborative effort with participants urging more business and government leaders to join in.

In his opening remarks Wednesday, One D champion Edsel Ford II asked for audience members to make regionalism a way of life. Afterward, a panel of members from the participating groups in One D discussed progress and challenges.

“Parts working together in harmony is an apt description of the communities of the Detroit region, when we are at our very best,” Ford said. “The way we pulled together for last year’s Super Bowl is just one recent example. But that was an effort built around an occasion. For the communities of regional Detroit to shine their brightest, we need more than an occasional effort … we need to embrace regionalism. We need to make it a way of life.”

For One D, a group of six regional civic groups that are working together on five priorities for the region, to succeed, each organization needs to exhibit organizational selflessness, Ford said. The groups behind One D are the Detroit Metro Convention & Visitors Bureau, the Detroit Regional Chamber, Detroit Renaissance Inc. , New Detroit Inc., United Way for Southeastern Michigan and the Cultural Alliance of Southeastern Michigan.

The five priorities are economic prosperity, educational preparedness, regional transit, race relations and quality of life, with regional collaboration as an umbrella over all.

Maud Lyon, founding director of the Cultural Alliance, said “One D is about eliminating duplication of efforts.”

And, by laying regionalism over the top with Ford as “the guru of regional collaboration,” said Richard Blouse, president and CEO of the Detroit Regional Chamber, the interrelated priorities can move along faster.

Doug Rothwell, president of Detroit Renaissance, said the five priorities are at different stages of evolution and some will require more change. And Michael Brennan, president and CEO of the United Way, compared the region’s movement to a One D framework to a technology upgrade.

“We’ve operated for a long time on DOS,” he said. “We’re trying to move to Windows.”

Ford, when interviewed after the panel discussion, said One D next needs to get more corporate leaders, nonprofit leaders and elected officials behind the effort. County executives, for example, would be a great addition. Ideally, Ford said, even after progress is made on priorities, the One D work plan can be updated and continue instead of disbanding.

“The theory is: This is a process,” he said.

For now, until more specifics about business support are announced, including two additional sessions planned at the conference, supporters can speak positively about the region and find ways to collaborate more often, panelists said.