OGDEN -- Mayor Matthew Godfrey traveled to China on Wednesday in an effort to recruit new businesses to the city.
The six-day trip will include meetings with business leaders in Beijing and other cities, Godfrey said Tuesday night.
He may also visit Shanghai and Ningbo.
Godfrey declined to identify the individuals he plans to meet with or provide details about the types of businesses he is seeking to recruit.
The trip will cost about $2,000 and will be funded by the city's Community and Economic Development Department, Godfrey said. The trip has been arranged by a business broker familiar with Chinese companies, he added.
City Council Chairwoman Caitlin K. Gochnour said she hopes Godfrey's trip to China is productive. Godfrey has talked about establishing a marketplace in Ogden that would sell international goods, but hasn't discussed with the city council the possibility of going to China to recruit businesses, she said.
"The council looks forward to hearing about the details of the trip," said Gochnour who learned about the journey through an e-mail from Godfrey that she read Wednesday morning.
The aim of Godfrey's trip is to meet with suppliers as part of a world market business concept he envisions downtown along Washington Boulevard, said Richard McConkie, the city's deputy director of Community and Economic Development.
"He is going to China to see what types of retail goods are available for some of the space we have," said McConkie.
Godfrey's visit to China is his third trip abroad in as many years on behalf of the city.
In 2006, Godfrey traveled to Italy and Austria to meet with leading manufacturers of aerial tramways as part of an urban gondola project in Ogden that hasn't come to fruition.
Godfrey also visited Vienna, Austria; Munich, Germany; Zurich, Switzerland; and the French cities of Nice and Bordeaux in 2008 to inspect streetcar systems.
The city and tramway manufacturers paid for the 2006 trip, while the 2008 trip was funded by the Salt Lake Chamber of Commerce and other sponsors.
Related link: This article is a topic of discussion at Weber County Forum.
Comments