Economic development leaders see so much potential in Kansas University’s pursuit of a National Cancer Institute designation, and Kansas State University’s preparations for a $450 million federal lab, that they’re planning to form a marketing partnership to take advantage of it all.

Working title: the “I-70 Gateway to Success.”

“No one community, no one university, has enough critical mass on its own to be able to market their specific region on a regional and a national level,” said Tom Kern, president and CEO of the Lawrence Chamber of Commerce, one of three organizations driving work on the partnership. “But collectively, the three communities — Lawrence, Topeka and Manhattan — and the three universities, and the three chambers, probably do have the resources, collectively, to do that.”

Earlier this month, nearly 150 people from three communities gathered over lunch in Topeka to discuss the promise of regional cooperation. Afterward, about 30 leaders gathered for the first time to discuss the possibilities of contributing money, in-kind services, research and other resources to a common cause: using the strengths of the three areas to appeal to larger audiences for economic victories.

Kirk Schulz, president of Kansas State University, came away encouraged but cautioned that all partners must be willing to accept that a victory for one is a success for all.

Say, for example, a business decides to locate in Manhattan, to be close to the new National Bio- and Agro-Defense Facility, the $450 million project under way at Kansas State. Partners in Lawrence and Topeka should see that as a bonus for all because the national lab will be expected to attract companies throughout the region, he said, just as drug-delivery and cancer-treatment work in Lawrence and the Kansas City area may draw new businesses to northeast Kansas, or proximity to Hill’s Pet Nutrition in Topeka could draw more commerce.

“I think it’s inevitable, for this to be successful, that there has to be a pooling of resources available that represents something that’s bigger than there is now,” Schulz said. “That, ultimately, will determine the success: what resources there are available.”

Officials from the three communities’ chambers of commerce will meet early next month to put together a plan for working together. Leaders intend to discuss available resources, and how they might fit together.

Kern foresees coming up with partnership teams that could travel to industry trade shows and advertising programs that could appeal to business decisionmakers. The three communities could bring in site selectors to see potential sites, see research opportunities and meet with interested partners.

“There’s a great synergy with this,” he said.

Jerry Farley, president of Washburn University, expects the process to start slow — “baby steps,” he calls them — before accelerating to compete with other major regions in the country, including the Research Triangle in North Carolina and Route 128 in Boston.

The I-70 corridor is unparalleled in its combined strengths in animal science, bioscience and related fields.

“We really don’t know what the possibilities are at this point,” Farley said. “In my opinion, they are enormous.”