Rio de Janeiro - Most of Georgia's top economic development officials are with Gov. Nathan Deal in Brazil for his first trade mission since his re-election. But the state has launched an extraordinary burst of globe-trotting travel elsewhere this week, with five different missions simultaneously scouting business opportunities across three continents.
There's a delegation led by Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle in Wolfsburg, Germany pitching auto parts suppliers at Volkswagen's Autostadt conference. A Georgia team is scouting for business at the Paris Air Show through Sunday. Economic development operatives were dispatched to the BIO International Conference in Philadelphia until Thursday. And a state tourism guru is hopping from Milan to Amsterdam to Brussels to Paris this week on a sales mission.
There's about a half-dozen economic development staffers coordinating Deal's trip to Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo and Campinas as well, setting up meetings with firms and site visits with trade delegations. Members of the delegation on Monday huddled with Coca-Cola's Brazilian chief, toured a high-tech innovation center on the outskirts of Rio and pitched the region's governor on strengthening ties.
Chris Carr, the state economic development commissioner, has particularly high hopes for Cagle's mission. Volkswagen's sprawling plant in Chattanooga, Tenn. hasn't yet spawned much spinoff business across the state line, and state officials are hopeful that a new VW supplier initiative can help woo more suppliers to Georgia's side of the border.
"This is critically important. These aren't one-offs," Carr said. "We will go anywhere and everywhere to bring investment to Georgia."
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