Budgets are tighter in 2010 and that means more people from different places are playing nicer. It also means more regional cooperation.
"Clearly, we're in times where there is great pressure to be using your resources in an appropriate manner," says Mark Ouimet, a Washtenaw County Commissioner and chair of the Ypsilanti Chamber of Commerce.
In that spirit, the Ypsilanti and Ann Arbor chambers of commerce are joining forces, creating the Ann Arbor/Ypsilanti Regional Chamber. The new regional chamber is expected to expand its programs and benefits for members, create cost savings, increase networking opportunities and a form stronger voice for the Ann Arbor/Ypsilanti area. Ouimet also believes this could serve as an example for more regionalism in the county.
"This is an opportunity for the organizations to look at what they do and how they do it," he says.
More regional cooperation is also being broached just north of Ann Arbor in Livingston County. There, according to a story in The Detroit News, four of the county's five school districts are considering consolidating their bus service as a way of saving money. There the Livingston Educational Service Agency would manage the bus fleets for Brighton, Hartland, Howell and Pinckney public schools (which transport about 15,000 students), saving the districts an estimated $1 million.
Source: Mark Ouimet, chair of the Ypsilanti Chamber of Commerce
Writer: Jon Zemke
Enjoy this story?
Sign up for free solutions-based reporting in your inbox each week.