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Cross-Border Collaboration

Promoting the mega-regional economy of metropolitan Gary, Chicago and Milwaukee

Zero-sum mindset threatens mega-region’s economy

To hear the pundits tell it, we live in a zero sum world: You win, they lose—and vice versa. Yet in this global economy, regions inextricably bound by economic assets such as transportation networks, waterways and workforces cannot afford to squabble internally over crumbs.

Spanning northwestern Indiana, northeastern Illinois and southeastern Wisconsin, the Tri-State mega-region has enormous economic potential.

Such is the reality for the Milwaukee-Chicago-Gary mega-region. In 2012, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), commissioned by the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce, released a groundbreaking analysis that identified strong economic potential for the 14- to 21-county area straddling northeastern Illinois, southeastern Wisconsin and northwestern Indiana. The review also exposed a host of policy and governance barriers to realizing this region’s full economic potential.

Collaborate to achieve mega-region’s full economic potential

MPC recognizes the economic interdependence of communities from southeastern Wisconsin to northwestern Indiana, and has worked on the Gary Region Investment Project for three years to identify transformative investments in the Gary area. To expand on this work, MPC is partnering with the Tri-State Alliance—formed by the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce as a result of OECD’s 2012 analysis—as well as with organizations in Indiana and Wisconsin to identify and advance catalytic partnerships and investments in housing, transportation and water resources.

Benefits
Collaborators

Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce
One Region
Regional Development Authority
Alliance for Regional Development