In response to the Crupi report, the Richmond Regional Planning District Commission has joined with the business community to help plan for the future of the region.

During a meeting this afternoon, the commission voted unanimously to join -- and to play -- a large part in the Capital Region Collaborative, the entity created by the Greater Richmond Chamber in the wake of the Crupi report.

"The planets are aligned. The timing is right," said John Gordon, a planning district commission member who also is a Hanover County supervisor. "The region's political and business leaders were following parallel paths, and now those paths have merged."

Issued in November, the Crupi report was an examination of the region, its pluses and pitfalls. It included a number of recommendations for the area to follow, including formation of a task force to plan for future development.

Robert Grey, an attorney at Hunton & Williams, will chair the Collaborative, which will be moderated by William C. Bosher, executive director of Commonwealth Educational Policy Institute at Virginia Commonwealth University.

"This is about what can be done together," Bosher said after the meeting.