Tom Christoffel

Working as a regional planner promoting cooperation between local governments from 1973-2008, I found that expressing the relationship as being a "regional community of communities" was accecptible to all. From that recognition, cooperation led to qualitative and quantitative benefits. This led to my first thesis: Community precedes cooperation. People, organizations, local governments, businesses, etc. - all can come to cooperation based on their recognition of community. Boundaries can be worked across. Consolidation and mergers lead to loss of identiy. While sometimes necessary, cooperation across the boundaries does have benefits. The U.S. was organized with this in mind. States and localities, as separte, but interconnected geographies, are engines of innovation as well as persistence over time. The newsletter I've produced since 2003 calls to attention the emergence of regional communities in the U.S. and around the world. Businesses see markets and business people are a catalyst to local elected officials to pursue policies which cooperatively improve regional quality of life and competitiveness. Efficiency in the local region is also becoming of greater importance due to rising energy costs and the need for sustainability. Recently it occurred to me that there is no "cooperation industry," so I created a website to attract anyone who might be interested in that.