Economic development in Oklahoma and Texas has often involved one state's efforts to snatch companies from the other. When competing against one another, the Oklahoma-Texas rivalry could sometimes become blood sport. However, leaders from both sides of the Red River realized the advantages that comes with economic cooperation. So they resolved to ford the river and begin an unlikely collaboration between a relatively rural area of north Texas and southern Oklahoma – an area known as "Texoma" after the large lake in the center of the region.