Expanding the Circle
Although Agenda 360 was designed to focus on the four counties of Southwest Ohio, its scope is by nature much broader reaching across the river into Kentucky and Indiana as well as north into Dayton.
As we move forward, it is crucial that Southwest Ohio and Northern Kentucky be aligned. Business, community and government leaders must work in one direction that recognizes their common ground and their common goals.
The complementary nature of Agenda 360 and Vision 2015 provides the framework for making this happen.
Our region has crucial ties to the north as well. Population has exploded along the Interstate 75 corridor in the last decade. From 2002-2007, Butler County saw a 28 percent increase in its population and Warren County saw 17 percent growth. And businesses are following the people. The U.S. Census Bureau projects the 15-county Cincinnati/Middletown/Northern Kentucky metropolitan statistical area will merge with the Dayton MSA by 2013.
From this growth comes opportunity. The Cincinnati-Dayton region has the potential to be a nationwide leader in commercializing technology, due in large part to the state of Ohio's Third Frontier Program.
The work of Agenda 360 suggests that Cincinnati and Dayton create an "innovation hub" centered in Warren and Butler counties. Such a hub would accelerate the collaboration between Cincinnati and Dayton and foster technology-led economic development by attracting and retaining investment, entrepreneurs and innovative companies. That's how you grow jobs.
Ultimately, these partnerships, whether between Northern Kentucky and Southwest Ohio or between Cincinnati and Dayton, are the underpinning of transforming the entire region. As the public-policy group Brookings Institution says, we are not one big economy at work but a network of local and metro economies. Therefore, working together is essential. Working together is at the heart of Agenda 360's work.