Collaboration Nation
How Public-Private Ventures Are Revolutionizing the Business of Government
By Mary Scott Nabers
It is clear that The Great Recession has changed everything. Public officials across the land are facing unprecedented budget shortfalls and are in a desperate search for ways to keep services at or above their current levels. As often happens, this type of chaos and confusion is filled with opportunities. Companies willing to deal with the nuances and subtleties of doing business with government will find a trillion dollar marketplace and an abundance of immediate opportunities. Governments dealing with limited budgets can, in turn, find the resources they need from the private sector. At this critical juncture, government and business desperately need each other. Time is of the essence as many cities and states find themselves on the precipice. COLLABORATION NATION (Platform Press, May 2012), penned by entrepreneur and former Texas Railroad Commissioner Mary Scott Nabers, is a balanced look at the world we find ourselves in and what the road ahead looks like. Nabers is in many ways the perfect messenger to deliver this far-reaching and practical work. She served in a statewide position under three Texas governors (two Democrats and one Republican) and she has been a very successful entrepreneur and businessperson. In short, she has been there and done that and her deep passion for public service and all that it can accomplish still burns brightly. “My 10 years of public service taught me
about the inner workings of government and how to get things done in bureaucratic environments,” she says, “and my experiences over the past 15 years with some of the world’s largest government contractors has allowed me to see hundreds of innovative solutions that offer all kinds of relief to governmental entities. America needs successful collaborative public-private partnerships now more than any other time in history. It is critical for this country’s economic prosperity.” COLLABORATION NATION takes readers on a journey to what has, until recently, been a mostly contentious environment for veterans in both the government and business sectors. Nabers takes the time to describe in fascinating detail how best to begin building bridges between government and business. She then proceeds to enumerate the issues and pitfalls that must be avoided in building effective collaborations and partnerships, and offers practical prescriptions and solutions for each step along the way. In the end, she delivers encouraging news about the future of private-public partnerships (P3s). “If they are done right,” she says, “these partnerships will not only help us weather the current financial storm, but the engagements also hold the potential for enhancing the efficiency of government for the long haul.”