Spurred on by recommendations in the Crupi report, public and private interests created an alliance yesterday to plan for the future of the nine-locality Richmond region.

The Richmond Regional Planning District Commission voted unanimously to join and play a major role in the Capital Region Collaborative, which is an entity created by the Greater Richmond Chamber after the report was issued nearly six months ago.

"The planets are aligned; the timing is right," said John E. Gordon Jr., a 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."

A group of 40 business leaders and companies paid $150,000 for Texas-based business consultant James A. Crupi to evaluate the area. His report called the Richmond region an underachieving area that needed a plan for the future.

"The chamber alone without you can not initiate a process of this nature, and clearly, I believe, you need them at the table as well," William C. Bosher said to the commissioners. Bosher, executive director of the Commonwealth Educational Policy Institute at Virginia Commonwealth University, will moderate the collaborative.

Crupi recommended that a task force develop a vision of the future that addresses transportation needs, the type of businesses to recruit, and how to manage economic growth without destroying quality of life.

"This is significant," Chamber President and CEO James W. Dunn said. "We have had some visioning processes in the past that have primarily been focused on the four immediate jurisdictions. For the first time, the entire region will come to the table and work together to plan for the future."

The Richmond Regional Planning District Commission was created by the General Assembly in 1968 to foster cooperation among localities on issues of economic development, emergency services, transportation and regional planning, interim Executive Director Jo Evans said.

It serves 950,000 residents of Richmond, Ashland and the counties of Charles City, Chesterfield, Goochland, Hanover, Henrico, New Kent and Powhatan. All of the localities will be represented in the collaborative, Gordon said.

Bosher said the communities will be asked to provide planning documents, goals, strategies and aspirations -- to see what similarities exist. "This is about what can be done together," he said.

Dunn said the collaborative is working on a way that will allow interested residents, organizations, local government representatives, state officials and other parties to participate.

"Ours will be a process built on inclusiveness, transparency, engagement, accountability and sustainability," said Robert Grey, who will lead the collaborative. As a partner at the Hunton & Williams LLP law firm, Grey specializes in regulated industries and government relations.
Contact Emily C. Dooley at (804) 649-6016 or edooley@timesdispatch.com.