Keys to Strategic Regional Growth: Insights From Chicago and Minneapolis-St. Paul

For regions to achieve lasting and inclusive economic growth, they must build the collaborative mindset and tools needed to support the initiatives, strategies, and partnerships that will make that growth possible.

This message emerged from a recent webinar on regional economic growth hosted by The Pew Charitable Trusts and the Southeastern Pennsylvania Economic Collaborative, with two economic development experts from Chicago and Minneapolis-St. Paul as featured guests.

Since 2023, Pew and the economic collaborative, along with scholars from the Brookings Institution, have regularly convened principal economic actors in southeastern Pennsylvania to analyze the region’s growth prospects and lay a foundation for collective action. The collaborative includes leaders from Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery, and Philadelphia counties.

During the Feb. 24 webinar, Joe Parilla, senior fellow and director of applied research with the Brookings Metro program, told participants that regional growth relies on three factors: a focus on sectors in which a region has an edge in the marketplace; use of existing foundational assets to help support and expand those sectors; and development of institutions with the collaborative capacity to work with businesses, philanthropic and nonprofit organizations, labor, government, and higher education.

“Economists have shown that the strengths of institutions, both formal and informal, ultimately shape economic outcomes,” Parilla said. “And that’s because institutions create the conditions for trust, for coordination, for collective action. … It’s about building the bridges, the coalitions, that make long-term economic change possible.”

The webinar featured a conversation with two leaders in the field of regional economic development. Aleena Agrawal serves as vice president for strategic initiatives at P33 Chicago, a nonprofit economic development organization dedicated to making the greater Chicago region, and the state of Illinois, a technology and innovation hub while driving inclusive growth. Matt Lewis is vice president of partnership strategy at the Greater MSP Partnership, a public-private economic development organization working to accelerate the competitiveness of the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area.

According to Agrawal, P33 Chicago began as an initiative of the business community. The organization is pursuing a strategy built around three long-term “big bets” intended to shape the region over the next two decades: positioning greater Chicago as a center for advances in quantum computing, cybersecurity, and semiconductors; promoting efficient energy sources for computing; and developing the regional workforce to ensure that economic growth benefits the entire Chicago area. The organization plays an ongoing role in the establishment of the Illinois Quantum and Microelectronics Park, a multibillion-dollar center for quantum computing under development in Chicago on the site of a former steel mill.

The Greater MSP Partnership focuses on globally oriented economic development projects intended to improve competitiveness and inclusive growth. Those projects include the Minnesota MedTech Hub 3.0, designated by the U.S. Commerce Department as a national center for development of smart medical technology.

Both organizations are committed to building on the existing competitive advantages of their regions. For Chicago, these include the quantum computing research underway at the University of Chicago and the University of Illinois. For Minneapolis-St. Paul, a key advantage is the region’s concentration of medical technology companies.

This strategic approach is no accident. A regional economic development organization “can only take things on that have industry validation and leadership,” Lewis said.

In a market assessment of southeastern Pennsylvania, Brookings identified three industry clusters that offer promising opportunities for economic growth and creation of quality jobs: enterprise digital solutions, precision manufacturing in industrial technologies, and biomedical engineering and production.

Laura Goodrich Cairns, executive director of the Delaware County Economic Development Corp. and a member of the regional collaborative, asked Agrawal and Lewis to share lessons they had learned in their organizations’ early days, when building credibility and creating positive momentum were essential.

“Partnerships are key,” Agrawal said. “Everything we do requires a really strong partnership. That requires trust, that requires maintenance of that relationship, that requires moving in lockstep and recognizing there will be moments of healthy tension. But building from the get-go trust and honest relationships is the only way to get it done.”

Lewis observed that aspirational goals, such as creating economic opportunities for residents, can be achieved only through disciplined focus on the most promising industry groups. Once he and his colleagues “figured out which sectors—which technology areas—gave us a real competitive advantage to win … then things started flowing better,” he said. Lewis also emphasized the importance of balancing an ambitious 10-year vision with concrete three-year targets that reflect the things everyone cares about, including job creation and the securing of capital investments. Annual reporting on these metrics has maintained transparency and trust with stakeholders whose engagement is critical to the success of the Greater MSP Partnership, he added.

The next milestone for the Southeastern Pennsylvania Economic Collaborative is the release of a shared regional growth strategy later this spring. In the months ahead, area leaders will focus on building the trusted partnerships and organizational capacities needed to carry out the strategy’s recommendations.

Larry Eichel is a senior adviser with The Pew Charitable Trusts’ Philadelphia research and policy initiative.

For regions to achieve lasting and inclusive economic growth, they must build the collaborative mindset and tools needed to support the initiatives, strategies, and partnerships that will make that growth possible.

This message emerged from a recent webinar on regional economic growth hosted by The Pew Charitable Trusts and the Southeastern Pennsylvania Economic Collaborative, with two economic development experts from Chicago and Minneapolis-St. Paul as featured guests.

Since 2023, Pew and the economic collaborative, along with scholars from the Brookings Institution, have regularly convened principal economic actors in southeastern Pennsylvania to analyze the region’s growth prospects and lay a foundation for collective action. The collaborative includes leaders from Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery, and Philadelphia counties.

During the Feb. 24 webinar, Joe Parilla, senior fellow and director of applied research with the Brookings Metro program, told participants that regional growth relies on three factors: a focus on sectors in which a region has an edge in the marketplace; use of existing foundational assets to help support and expand those sectors; and development of institutions with the collaborative capacity to work with businesses, philanthropic and nonprofit organizations, labor, government, and higher education.

“Economists have shown that the strengths of institutions, both formal and informal, ultimately shape economic outcomes,” Parilla said. “And that’s because institutions create the conditions for trust, for coordination, for collective action. … It’s about building the bridges, the coalitions, that make long-term economic change possible.”

The webinar featured a conversation with two leaders in the field of regional economic development. Aleena Agrawal serves as vice president for strategic initiatives at P33 Chicago, a nonprofit economic development organization dedicated to making the greater Chicago region, and the state of Illinois, a technology and innovation hub while driving inclusive growth. Matt Lewis is vice president of partnership strategy at the Greater MSP Partnership, a public-private economic development organization working to accelerate the competitiveness of the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area.

According to Agrawal, P33 Chicago began as an initiative of the business community. The organization is pursuing a strategy built around three long-term “big bets” intended to shape the region over the next two decades: positioning greater Chicago as a center for advances in quantum computing, cybersecurity, and semiconductors; promoting efficient energy sources for computing; and developing the regional workforce to ensure that economic growth benefits the entire Chicago area. The organization plays an ongoing role in the establishment of the Illinois Quantum and Microelectronics Park, a multibillion-dollar center for quantum computing under development in Chicago on the site of a former steel mill.

The Greater MSP Partnership focuses on globally oriented economic development projects intended to improve competitiveness and inclusive growth. Those projects include the Minnesota MedTech Hub 3.0, designated by the U.S. Commerce Department as a national center for development of smart medical technology.

Both organizations are committed to building on the existing competitive advantages of their regions. For Chicago, these include the quantum computing research underway at the University of Chicago and the University of Illinois. For Minneapolis-St. Paul, a key advantage is the region’s concentration of medical technology companies.

This strategic approach is no accident. A regional economic development organization “can only take things on that have industry validation and leadership,” Lewis said.

In a market assessment of southeastern Pennsylvania, Brookings identified three industry clusters that offer promising opportunities for economic growth and creation of quality jobs: enterprise digital solutions, precision manufacturing in industrial technologies, and biomedical engineering and production.

Laura Goodrich Cairns, executive director of the Delaware County Economic Development Corp. and a member of the regional collaborative, asked Agrawal and Lewis to share lessons they had learned in their organizations’ early days, when building credibility and creating positive momentum were essential.

“Partnerships are key,” Agrawal said. “Everything we do requires a really strong partnership. That requires trust, that requires maintenance of that relationship, that requires moving in lockstep and recognizing there will be moments of healthy tension. But building from the get-go trust and honest relationships is the only way to get it done.”

Lewis observed that aspirational goals, such as creating economic opportunities for residents, can be achieved only through disciplined focus on the most promising industry groups. Once he and his colleagues “figured out which sectors—which technology areas—gave us a real competitive advantage to win … then things started flowing better,” he said. Lewis also emphasized the importance of balancing an ambitious 10-year vision with concrete three-year targets that reflect the things everyone cares about, including job creation and the securing of capital investments. Annual reporting on these metrics has maintained transparency and trust with stakeholders whose engagement is critical to the success of the Greater MSP Partnership, he added.

The next milestone for the Southeastern Pennsylvania Economic Collaborative is the release of a shared regional growth strategy later this spring. In the months ahead, area leaders will focus on building the trusted partnerships and organizational capacities needed to carry out the strategy’s recommendations.

Larry Eichel is a senior adviser with The Pew Charitable Trusts’ Philadelphia research and policy initiative.