Sam Cordes and Richard Longworth did an excellent job outlining how the governors of Illinois and Indiana are moving in the wrong direction. In an op-ed that appeared in the Chicago Tribune, they pointed to our work in building the Regional Alliance across three states: WI, IL and IN.

1. Commentary:
Illinois, Indiana should work together instead of competing for jobs
By Sam M. Cordes, Richard C. Longworth
 Illinois, Indiana should stop sucker-punching each other for jobs and start collaborating.
 Illinois and Indiana aren't really competing. The true competition is China and Mexico, and it's
winning.
Behind the rhetorical fusillades between Illinois and Indiana lies an inconvenient fact. These states don't
really compete with each other, and neither will thrive until they start acting like the neighbors they are.
Indiana Gov. Mike Pence and his predecessor,Mitch Daniels, started it with those "Illinnoyed" billboards
along highways between the two states. Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner upped the volume, in an
interview with the Chicago Tribune Editorial Board, by threatening to "rip the economic guts out of
Indiana."
But Illinois and Indiana aren't in competition with each other. The real competition is China and Mexico,
and it's winning.
Indiana and Illinois, like the rest of the Midwest, are struggling to meet the challenges of a new global
economy. Both states need all the help they can get. They should start by helping each other and
collaborating with other Midwestern states.
Indiana and Illinois share a deeply rooted economy, divided only by a meaningless state line. Thousands
of people cross this imaginary line every day, in both directions, to work, shop, vacation, or for a dozen
other reasons. Both governors seem oblivious to this reality.
A good place to start this collaboration is the Alliance for Regional Development, which seeks to unite
the Milwaukee-Chicago-Northwest Indiana region. The alliance grew from a major economic study by
the Organization for Cooperation and Economic Development. The message was clear: Collaborate,
collaborate and then collaborate some more — unless you want to end up in the junkyard of today's
highly competitive global economy.
Actually, the alliance has already been endorsed by then-Gov. Daniels and by Rauner's predecessor, Pat
Quinn, plus Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker. All three current governors of this tri-state area should ratify
this by putting their governments behind the reality that the region, although split by state lines,
actually is one integrated economic unit.
In other words, it is essential to align, link and leverage resources and policies across state boundaries in
areas where special opportunities exist. Doing so with bioscience and advanced manufacturing would be
a good start. So would concerted efforts to weld the intellectual clout of state universities in
Bloomington, Champaign-Urbana, West Lafayette, Ind., and Madison, Wis.
Surely, these three states, plus Michigan, could link efforts to promote growth in the "blue economy,"
based on the freshwater resource of Lake MichiganThe public and the business community, of course,
understand all of this. There was a time when governors led. Now, they are too far out of touch. But
they can be trained to follow.

2. This happened recently in Indiana when the business community en masse forced Pence to do his
about-face after signing the "religious freedom" legislation that was clearly going to harm the state's
economy. Likewise, it is time for the business community to insist that Rauner and Pence begin
collaborating, instead of demonizing one another.
If either governor was paying attention, he would know that stealing businesses from other places has
fallen into disrepute for at least two decades among economic development thinkers and strategists.
Virtually all experts agree that the best plan is to create a true entrepreneurial environment that
stimulates start-up companies and supports expansion of existing companies.
This makes sense. Most companies that move across a state line don't add any employees to the overall
economy: The same workers keep working, but commute in different directions. In the meantime, the
"losing" state loses taxes while the "winning" state, having promised the company a tax holiday, gains
nothing. Instead of both states losing, a collaborative multistate approach focusing on "growing your
own" raises all boats.
Neither Rauner nor Pence seems to know about business in his own state. If he did, he would know that
much of his state's existing big businesses grew where they started. Examples? Illinois has Caterpillar,
Deere, Walgreen, Groupon, Sears, Allstate and Crate and Barrel. Indiana has Eli Lilly, Cummins, Hill Rom,
hhgregg and Dow Agro.
A successful recruitment of a corporation, such as a Boeing or Toyota, is the exception, not the rule.
States and governors with successful strategies spend their money and effort not on the occasional
lucky strike, but on watering their own economic gardens to grow a culture of innovation and
entrepreneurship.
The real rewards in the global economy go to the state with the best workforce, infrastructure, public
services, quality of life and education systems. Seldom do they go to the place with the lowest taxes,
except for the bottom-feeders who can always find a cheaper place (think Mississippi as the first stop
before they move on to Mexico or China) with marginalized workers who will accept any wage.
None of this is a secret. Experts who study real economic cooperation and development have been
saying this for years. Unfortunately, Rauner and Pence have been too busy talking to listen.
Sam M. Cordes is professor emeritus and co-founder of the Center for Regional Development at Purdue
University in Indiana. Richard C. Longworth is a senior fellow at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs.
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