By Gregory Korte
The Cincinnati Enquirer

If you can't beat 'em, join 'em.

That was the essence of Cincinnati City Manager Valerie Lemmie's speech Friday to the Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce.

As city manager since April, Ms. Lemmie inherited the decade-long perception that Cincinnati was losing the development race to its suburbs - and especially Covington and Newport.

But there's a bigger picture, Ms. Lemmie said: "When you compete, you compete as a region."

Arriving late for the speech, Ms. Lemmie first thanked the crowd of about 120 business leaders for their patience, explaining that she had spent the morning explaining deep budget cuts and the new police union contract to City Council members.

"I will tell you, nothing is ever easy in the city of Cincinnati," she said, bringing laughter. "No wonder you've been kicking our butts on development."

Friday, she stated the case for Cincinnati: its recent efforts to streamline bureaucracy, reform its business regulations and provide tax incentives to growing businesses.

But she also came across as an unabashed fan of Northern Kentucky's efforts to develop the riverfront and, in some cases, take jobs from Cincinnati.

"There are 300,000 people over here, within one mile of Fountain Square," she said. "We have a lot to sell if we can sell it together."

People who come to the soon-to-be-expanded Albert B. Sabin Cincinnati Convention Center may stay an extra day to visit the Newport Aquarium, she said. Hotels and restaurants on both sides of the river benefit from vibrant downtown economies.

Like it or not, Cincinnati's problems belong to its Ohio and Kentucky suburbs, too, she said.

When major companies consider whether to locate in Cincinnati, the first thing they look for is a trained workforce - an issue that knows no political boundaries.

"If 50 percent of our children are dropping out before graduating from high school, what does that mean for their job prospects?" she said. "What does that mean for our ability to attract companies?"

Ms. Lemmie urged greater cross-river cooperation, saying regional leaders need to do a better job of defining what the Greater Cincinnati area should aspire to. When she recently asked 10 downtown Cincinnati stakeholders what the future of downtown should look like, she got 10 different answers, she said.

"We don't have a shared vision. There is no silver bullet, folks, there is no quick fix for the problems we face," she said.

"So our first task is to build consensus about what path we should take."

For example, she threw out the idea of a cross-river joint economic development district, or JEDD. The districts have been used successfully between Ohio cities and their suburbs to share revenues and spur economic development. The same could be done between Cincinnati, Covington and Newport, she said.

E-mail gkorte@enquirer.com