"Although each executive agency and its field organization have a special mission, there are many matters on which the work of the departments converge. Among them are management and budgetary procedures, personnel policies, recruitment efforts, office information duties, and similar matters. There are opportunities to pool experience and resources, and to accomplish savings. In substantive programs there are also opportunities for a more closely coordinated approach in many activities."

With those words, the concept of Federal Executive Boards was introduced by President John F. Kennedy in 1961. Today, a quarter of a century later, 28 FEBs exist to provide closer coordination among Federal agencies outside Washington, DC. As regional hubs for all government activity, their work relates to five mission themes:

• Communicate - FEBs inform member agencies of each other's initiatives and successes, and inform the local community of national policies and priorities.
  
• Reduce Costs and Improve Efficiency - FEBs bring together agencies with common goals so that their efforts are complementary.
  
• Facilitate Service Delivery - FEBs draw together agencies with common clients so that government services are convenient for the customers.
  
• Partner with Community Groups - FEBs partner with community groups to solve problems.
  
• Coordinate Emergency Services - FEBs stand ready to marshal resources of the entire federal community, whether to aid a member agency in a crisis, or to assist the citizenry in a public emergency.