The Center for Governmental Research, Inc. (CGR) was established by George Eastman

George Eastman

George Eastman was an American innovator and entrepreneur who founded the Eastman Kodak Company and invented roll film, helping to bring photography to the mainstream...

 in 1915 as a non-profit research and consulting agency for businesses as well as government in Rochester, New York

Rochester, New York

Rochester is a city in Monroe County, New York, south of Lake Ontario in the United States. Known as The World's Image Centre, it was also once known as The Flour City, and more recently as The Flower City...

. Eastman's premise behind launching the organization, called the Bureau of Municipal Research

Research

Research can be defined as the scientific search for knowledge, or as any systematic investigation, to establish novel facts, solve new or existing problems, prove new ideas, or develop new theories, usually using a scientific method...

, was “to get things done for the community” and to serve as an “independent, non-partisan agency for keeping citizens informed.”

Over the decades, CGR grew from a bureau focused on the needs of one city into an organization with broader reach. The 501(c)(3) non-profit organization today works primarily with local governments on issues of municipal dissolution

Dissolution

Dissolution or dissolve may refer to:* Dissolution , in law, means to end a legal entity or agreement such as a marriage, adoption, or corporation...

, consolidation

Consolidation

Consolidation may refer to:* Consolidation , the mergers or acquisitions of many smaller companies into much larger ones* Consolidation , a geological process whereby a soil decreases in volume...

 and competitiveness

Competitiveness

Competitiveness is a comparative concept of the ability and performance of a firm, sub-sector or country to sell and supply goods and/or services in a given market...

.