There is likely not one person reading this article who has not had to deal with the realities of restructuring his or her organization in recent years. Whether you are in business, education, government or the nonprofit arena, you have in some way felt the impact of a merger, acquisition, consolidation or downsizing.

Restructuring an organization can be painful. Those of us in the business community recognize change brought on by economic challenges we face as a necessity to survive and compete in a new economy.

The same painful restructuring often undertaken in the private sector is also a reality for the public sector. Governmental units at all levels are grappling with revenue shortfalls, controlling costs and providing acceptable levels of service to customers—the taxpayers. Our region is fortunate to have many talented, dedicated public officials who are spending long hours seeking solutions to these complex issues.

Perhaps it is time for the region to come together and encourage new ways of thinking when it comes to how our governments are structured and operate.

What is reasonable to expect from our local governments when it comes to more efficient and cost-effective delivery of services? Is it fair to apply a business model of restructuring to a government entity? Should government be required to reinvent itself as many of us in the business community have been forced to do in recent years?

There are many in the region who would argue that we need to get serious about advancing the business of regionalism.

Any discussion of regionalism almost immediately becomes controversial because the word means lots of different things to different people. Does regionalism mean we would have one metro government to govern the region? Or, is regionalism more about a natural consolidation and sharing of services among local governments similar to the Capital Area Transportation Authority (CATA) or local 911 emergency call centers?

The answer is: It could be all of the above, neither or somewhere in between. The economic reality suggests that we, as a region, need to advance the process of figuring that out—before it is figured out for us.

For the past two years, the Lansing Regional Chamber of Commerce Economic Club has brought the top local elected officials together in one room to talk publically about the progress toward regionalism. Mayors of the cities of Lansing and East Lansing, and supervisors of Meridian, Delhi, Delta, DeWitt and Lansing townships, have spoken candidly about the opportunities and challenges to a more regional approach to government.

Our local officials should be applauded for the outstanding work they have done in collaborating on a number of ventures. The most notable example is the consolidation of two 911 call centers into one countywide center, a complex undertaking that should be a model of how government can blend different pay scales and staffing levels into a true regional operation.

The fact is, our local units of government are working together—and they work together pretty well. Unfortunately, those successful collaborations don’t make news, because there is no public conflict. But there are numerous success stories, including Delta Township and Grand Ledge consolidating assessing services, the Metro Fire Council and the cities of Lansing, East Lansing, the townships of Lansing and Meridian, Michigan State University and CATA collaborating on the Michigan/Grand River Avenue Corridor Transportation Study.

We should be encouraged by the work that has been done in our region to date. I would also suggest a few things that need to occur to help speed the pace of regionalism.

We need to review state laws to see if there are changes that would remove roadblocks or provide incentives for regionalism.

We could also foster more support for regionalism in both the public and private sectors if we changed the nature of the discussion.  Let’s focus on a true collaboration and partnerships as opposed to the more inflammatory term “consolidation.”

It’s also time for the private sector to take a greater leadership role in the issue of regionalism. While it may be true that government can’t always be run like a business, it is also true that the business community has much influence and expertise that should be leveraged to help shape a leaner, cost-effective and efficient public sector for our region.

		Tim Daman is president and CEO of the Lansing Regional Chamber of Commerce.