National Initiatives

Minding Their Civic Business: A Look at the New Ways Regional Business-Civic Organizations are Making a Difference in Metropolitan North America

FutureWorks recently completed an in-depth analysis of the operations and achievements of business-led regional civic organizations in 29 major metropolitan areas in the United States, including Ottawa and Toronto, Canada. The organizations selected for analysis all are (1) led by business leaders, (2) engaged in general civic improvement and (3) metropolitan in their geographic focus.

The analysis has produced the first comprehensive portrait of the practices employed by business-led civic organizations to improve the economic, spatial and social conditions in their regions. Organizational practices reviewed in the study include mission, governance, membership, revenue sources, budget, structure, staffing, leadership development, programmatic activity and public policy efforts. The inventory provides basic profiles on 45 organizations in 29 regions, describing both recurring activity patterns and innovative practices.

The project began in July of 2003. Funding for this research was provided by the Metropolitan Leadership Network (an informal association of the leaders of business-leadership groups from 20 major metropolitan areas in the United States), the Ford Foundation and the Province of Ontario.

This project's findings are organized into five sections:

Section I: Summary Report

Section II: Regional Profiles - The State of Regional Business-Civic Leadership

Section III: Regional Profiles - Basic Economic Indicators

Section IV: Organizational Profiles

Section V: Appendix