Trying to get the dozens of Northeast Ohio cities and towns to work collaboratively isn't easy, but the Fund for our Economic Future thinks it's found a way to get the conversation started. The Fund recently put up a $300,000 prize for area cities that come up with innovative partnership proposals. And that brought in plans for 65 different projects, which were submitted by the deadline this past Wednesday. The plans ranged from the purchase of a fire engine that three communities would share... to a tri-city recreation center. The Fund's Chris Thompson says the price tags for the projects vary considerably
CHRIS THOMPSON: Some of our proposals that we've received are multi-million-dollar projects. Some of them are for projects that are under a hundred thousand dollars.
The Fund will now examine the details of the 65 proposals and select a handful of the best ones, which will then be voted on by the public, this summer. Thompson says the $300,000 prize will be divided among as many as three winning projects.