GRAND RAPIDS, Mich — Greg Northrup has a vision for development in the western portion of Michigan that goes beyond the county he lives in and includes an entire eight-county region.

“I wake up every day and say how will I make this a better place to live, learn, work and play,” said Northrup, president of the West Michigan Strategic Alliance. “I think we have found some of the answers.”

Northrup is part of the effort that began in 1998 to market West Michigan as a region. The strategic alliance formed in 2000 to create a shared vision for eight counties for the next 25 years.

The goal of the WMSA was to identify priorities to promote collaboration in an area with a population of 1.5 million. Leaders throughout central Indiana are looking at the WMSA’s example as they hope to establish a similar collaboration in this area.

The WMSA works with a full-time staff of three people and a $6 million budget. The staff institutes new programs and then farms out the work to other organizations.

The group holds an annual meeting where the 300 stakeholders vote on the direction of the WMSA for the next year.

The six priorities identified the first year included: create regional thinking, foster a prosperous economy, strengthen the community through diversity, ensure a stable economic environment, revitalize the urban centers and develop a growth strategy.

As with most of the Midwest, the region has been heavily dependent on the automotive manufacturing industry, which remains the number one area of employment.

The WMSA defines collaboration as “joint work toward a common end,” and determined that it should include government working together over shared borders with the business community and not-for-profit organizations that could share resources to obtain mutual benefit.

“The underlying theme is to create trust,” Northrup said. “That allows us to develop relationships and tackle problems.”

Northrup said the WMSA works to develop intellectual capital in the region and points to a $1 billion investment in life sciences in the Grand Rapids area.

He noted the region has 130,000 people over the age of 25 who lack the skills to succeed, and the WMSA is working to develop an internship program for juniors in college in the hopes it will lead to permanent employment.

The alliance started by tracking 12 economic indicators the first year, ranging from per capita income to housing costs, crime rate and educational attainment. Those indicators are tracked on an annual basis and compared to the rest of Michigan and the United States.

The indicators are used to raise public awareness of the region’s economic and social health. Northrup admitted that most residents of the WMSA would not know what the organization is attempting to accomplish, but a growing group of people recognize the regional collaborative efforts.

Northrup said the economic development group “Best Michigan” was the first to form and begin working together.

The chambers of commerce in the four largest communities in the region — Grand Rapids, Muskegon, Holland and Grand Haven — started meeting monthly to discuss ways to work together, he said. Prior to that, there had never been a meeting.

“We were in the top five regions in the country in the creation of new jobs in the last quarter of 2008, but that information gets lost because of the unemployment figures,” Northrup said.

Ed Garner, an economic development specialist for Muskegon, said the region works together to attract investment and job growth.

Garner said he has received tips about companies looking for locations in the region around Grand Rapids, the region’s largest city.

“We work outside our own communities,” he said. “It has broadened our perspective.”

Garner said the economic development groups used to meet quarterly to discuss regional growth. He said the groups in the alliance try not to compete with each other when it comes to landing investments.

“I never try to steal my neighbor’s business,” he said. “We tell clients what we have to offer and the decision is left to the client.

“If a business can’t locate in Muskegon, we at least want to land them in the West Michigan region. Jobs in one community benefit everyone in the region.”

Ken de la Bastide can be reached at (765) 454 -8580 or via e-mail at ken.delabastide@kokomotribune.com