In a survey conducted on behalf of Crain's and Honigman Miller Schwartz and Cohn LLP, 53 percent of respondents said area business leaders should have the greatest responsibility for providing a blueprint for economic development, followed by 34 percent looking to elected officials and other political figures, 3 percent to foundations/nonprofits and 3 percent to academia.

In this section, Crain's looks at how businesspeople are stepping up in two ways: Influence wielded in productive ways as demonstrated by 16 individuals, and civic connectedness as shown by 52 individuals.

For civic connectedness, Crain's used a database of the boards of directors or executive committees of 56 civic, nonprofit, educational and cultural organizations to produce a list of the 52 "most connected." Find them by click here or in the drop downs above listed by name or by most connected ranking.