McCaslin agreed. "The (KCMO) mayor and new city manager will want assistance to pass bond issues," she noted. "We have a real power if we choose to use it. But we have to be united to do that."

But a single label for the entire Northland is not always positive. Commissioner Michael Short cited a recent community campaign in which area counties were portrayed individually on a map--except for Clay and Platte County. The Northland was simply referred to as "all of the above." Not everyone thought that was necessarily bad. Jim Hampton drew several laughs by noting the new label had a nice ring to it. "All of the above, or above all of the others?" he asked. "I kind of like that."

Making It Work

The Northland identity involves more than a label, however. Effective cooperation to meet the growing area's challenges was seen as critical.

McCaslin said one of the best examples of unity in the region has occurred in Wyandotte County. "Consolidation in Wyandotte County really started their economic engine," she said. "So we don't want to give up on cooperation either. Look at what it did for them."

The Northland trails and greenways effort was cited as a good example of what the Northland can accomplish. The effort has pulled together community, business and government leaders from both counties to develop a comprehensive trail system linking parks, historic sites and other features.

"That kind of collaboration must continue," Knight said. "When we all work together, that helps push good things for the Northland."

Another example involved the Northland Schools Alliance, a coalition of the area's school districts and business leaders organized to promote the area's top-ranked educational institutions.

Hampton said the school alliance was an excellent example of both cooperation and branding. "I've yet to hear of another geographic area where all of the schools--the public, the private, the faith based--sit down on a regular basis," he said. "They work together as a team."

McClure said this kind of effort is needed to promote other Northland lifestyle advantages. "For years people have been tracking to Johnson County to find their great education and lifestyle," McClure noted. "But it's up here, too. Folks need to start associating that with. . . the Northland."

Commissioner Knight cited another issue that draws the two Northland counties together. "Legislators in both counties are accessible regardless of their districts," she said. "I think they feel like we have a common bond and common issues. They are always ready to help, no matter which side of the line they are on."

Several participants noted recent discussions with Buchanan County officials have explored ways to increase co-operation with that area as well. "Buchanan County is starting to see a reason why they should get partnered up with Clay and Platte counties," McClure said. "What's interesting is there are a lot of reasons, but they also see we have something going."

Logical Limits

Despite the benefits of county cooperation, the concept has limits. Knight noted that some competition is inevitable, especially in economic development. "There are things we can work on and we should push those as hard as we can," she said. "Pete Fullerton and Jim Hampton compete all the time for various businesses."

Fullerton was especially emphatic about some differences between Clay and Platte counties. "I'm going to simplify it and a lot of Clay County folks can jump me, but to a large part folks are going to live in Clay and work in Platte," he said. "(Highway) 152 will look a lot like (Interstate) 435--it will be west-bound in the morning and east-bound in the evening. That's a simplification, but in that scenario it makes no sense to market Platte County on its own. These employers are looking at a much larger area. The massive growth of residential on the eastern side of that 152 corridor is only going to help the job growth around the airport."

Michael Short agreed. "The reality is we don't have the workforce (in Platte County)," he said.

Hampton disagreed with some of that prediction. "North Kansas City will have a lot of jobs and continue to do so because of the building stock," he said, noting the huge concentration of industrial development there. "The 210 corridor has huge potential. Hunt Midwest (SubTropolis) is getting ready to open another four or five million square feet down there. We'll continue to grow jobs."

Hampton said a major question involves how other highway corridors develop. "The 152 corridor is going to be primarily retail and office," he said. "I think that 10 years from now, we will be looking at the (Highway) 92 corridor as a future industrial corridor."

The biggest limit to cooperation is the natural competition between jurisdictions. "I do think we have some barriers," McClure said. "I think they're more about who we work for and who we're trying to recruit. As an economic development organization that represents a city, probably 70 percent of our time is going into our city and maybe 30 percent we're looking at the big picture. But I think we do a good job of seeing the bigger picture."

Maintaining such strategic perspective was seen as important for future Northland success, even in the competitive area of economic development. Hampton noted that prospective businesses can be lost to the area if they don't get the right information, no matter what agency they approach.