The History of the Great Lakes Bay Regional Alliance
The idea of influencing legislative initiatives as a region began in the mid-to-late 1980’s. Originally a group from Saginaw made contact with some paramount people in Bay City… then Midland, and the first informal group began talking about legislative issues they would like to have more influence over. The make-up of this group changed after a few years with people joining and leaving …eventually resulting in the group disbanding.
The first “revitalization” of the group then took place with special interest conveyed by the new President of Saginaw Valley State University, Dr. Eric Gilbertson. A ‘blue ribbon’ group representing a make-up of community leaders, Delta College, Chamber Presidents and Board Chairs, and Economic Development Council Presidents and Board Chairs met on a regular basis, but was still considered an informal AdHoc committee working on issues that affected the entire region. One of the first initiatives was to attract a minor league baseball team to our region. Other initiatives: Inner modal transportation study including Genessee County, MBS airport, and the Bay area water freight. They met with the 11 county South East Michigan partnership to look for regional collaboration ideas that focused on economic development. After 3-4 years they contracted a study from McKenna and Associates identifying regional needs to improve economic development.
Then the group VISION TRI-COUNTY was more formerly organized along with a steering committee and a larger business committee that met regularly throughout the year. Some initiatives: A study completed on telecommunication needs and assets available, and a study done by Brogan & Associates on brand/name recognition for the region conducted through the MEDC, and an initial presentation of the original inner modal study to the MBS airport authority. Once again the make-up of the group changed and the group Vision Tri County, stopped meeting.
In 2005, VISION TRI-COUNTY was re-kindled for the second time and is made-up of the three county chambers and economic development organizations. The objective is to promote economic development for the region by pooling its collective leverage to accomplish success in four general areas: Economic Development, Legislative Influence, Marketing/Promoting our Region, and Leadership Development. Through an extensive rebranding effort, VISION TRI-COUNTY rebranded itself as the organizaiton known today as the Great Lakes Bay Regionnal Alliance. The Alliance continues to grow through the support of the Bay Area, Midland Area and Saginaw County Chamber's of Commerce and the outstanding support of the business community in the Great Lakes Bay Region. We are Transforming Tomorrow Together...
