Notebook: Exchange is a chance to look ahead
September 4, 2009
Bernard Dagenais, Philadelphia Business Journal
Put 147 successful and committed people in a room. Get them to talk about the future of a region they care about.
See what you get.
That’s the idea behind the Economy League’s 2009 Greater Philadelphia Leadership Exchange scheduled for Sept. 10 at the Hub Cira Centre in Philadelphia.
The day-long event builds on a trip by 70 local business, government and nonprofit leaders to Chicago in 2005. Just more than 100 went to Atlanta in 2008. The goal was to learn from the successes of other regions and see Greater Philadelphia’s strengths in a new light.
Participants described the trips as worthwhile opportunities to get to know and build stronger relationships with others from the region. They produced important connections, and some worthwhile results.
Philadelphia Workforce Development Corp. President Ernest Jones and BrownPartners advertising and marketing firm President David Brown — who are both black — recall how forthright people in Atlanta were when it came to talking about race relations.
Jones said he and WHYY President and CEO Bill Marrazzo, who is white, were inspired to continue the dialogue upon their return. A year later, others have become involved and Jones said a day-long event centered on race is now in the works.
Race relations are important in a city like Philadelphia, in which 44 percent of all people are black. But it’s just one example of a dialogue that was spurred by leadership exchanges. After the Chicago trip, participants identified issues revolving around minority business, parks systems, tax structure, mass transit and regional cooperation that they wanted to work on.
Steven Wray, executive director of the Economy League, counts a coalition that went to work on solving SEPTA transit’s funding issues as a major success. The Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce and Center City District combined with Wray’s group to press for SEPTA funding as it faced a crisis in 2007. The targeted source of funding, tolling of Interstate 80, ended up getting challenged and the issue will have to be revisited. But a crisis was averted and the coalition was an example of the benefits of combined efforts nonetheless.
Mayor Michael Nutter took the trip to Chicago as a City Council member. There he saw strong regional cooperation among suburban and city governments. The league has helped provide support for a caucus of county leaders that has so far met three times to discuss issues on which they could work together.
Past exchange participants say they came to better recognize local assets, including the public transit system, that are the envy of many regions. Brown said recognizing the good things that exist here provides a contextual boost or, as he put it, “a sense of expectation rather than an expectation of failure.” Knowing what’s good also helps identify what assets should be touted most.
The decision to have an event in Philadelphia this year is a function of the relatively small size of the Economy League staff, which numbers nine. Putting together a trip for 100 people is a tough job. Another trip will be announced next week for 2010, but Wray thinks this event will have important things in common with past trips.
“It’s an opportunity for people to reflect and think about and plan for the future of their own region,” Wray said. Positioning the region to emerge stronger from recession and the dysfunction of a state government unable to pass its budget are expected to be among the items discussed.
Bernard Dagenais, editor of Philadelphia Business Journal, can be reached at bdagenais@bizjournals.com. A participant in this year’s Leadership Exchange, Dagenais will be tweeting on Sept. 10 at twitter.com/berniedagenais.
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