Nearly 100 Business Council members representing 50 companies gathered with members of the Conference of Mayors leadership. Providence Mayor Vincent A. Cianci, Jr., Chairman of the Mayors and the Business Community Task Force welcomed Business Council members and provided a brief update on membership, currently at 57 companies and organizations.

Mark Povalski and Jane Prosch-Jenson, both of 3M, gave a presentation on transportation safety solutions in America’s Cities.

Boston Mayor Thomas Menino and David Katz of 3Com announced a new initiative modeled after a partnership between the City of Boston, 3Com and other companies.

Mr. Katz announced The 3Com Urban Challenge, a new initiative modeled after a partnership with the City of Boston. The 3Com Urban Challenge is designed to utilize technology to transform education and government systems. 3Com will provide a total of $1 million in equipment, training and consulting to ten cities. Information on the challenge will be sent to mayors following the Annual Meeting.

Bob Tierney of AT&T and Ted Pinkowitz of Neighborhood Link briefed mayors and Business Council members on a public/private partnership in several cities, including Denver. Mayor Webb said that Neighborhood Link has been successful in increasing the interaction between neighborhood associations and the city. Neighborhood Link provides neighborhood associations with web sites that are sponsored by corporations, AT&T in the case of Denver. The web sites offers neighborhood news such as garage sales and provides links to various city agencies, services and individual family homepages.