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Blog | 2 min read
Partnership prospecting abroad and at home
October 26, 2018
The Greater Richmond Partnership is regularly on the road traveling to meet with company executives who are looking at east coast options on where to expand or relocate. In the last month, our team has led international missions to Spain and France and met with consultants in Dallas, Texas; Atlanta, Ga.; and Greenville, S.C.
GRP Business Development Manager Grace Festa led a mission to Madrid and Barcelona, Spain along with local partners Gary McLaren of Henrico Economic Development Authority and Karen Aylward of Chesterfield Economic Development. The group met with 16 companies within our target clusters looking to potentially invest in the region.
GRP Vice President of Global Investment Olga Molnar led a mission to Paris, La Rochelle, Lyon and Marseille, France with local partners Twyla Powell of Henrico EDA and Jane Ferrara of the City of Richmond. France is the third largest source of foreign direct investment in the region (behind only the UK and Germany) with robust bioscience and information technology industries which aligns well with our target clusters. In total, the group conducted 13 individual meetings and presented to more than a dozen businesses during a “U.S. Fast Track” event hosted by the CCI de Lyon (a chamber of commerce organization), SelectUSA and U.S. Commercial Services.
Back in the U.S., GRP Vice President of Domestic Investment Bethany Miller led two consultant marketing missions in Dallas, Atlanta, and Greenville, S.C. As site selection consultants are involved in roughly half of all economic development projects, maintaining strong ties with these consultants throughout the nation is a critical piece of raising awareness about the Greater Richmond market with prospective companies.
Next steps? The GRP business development team is conducting follow-up with each of the companies we met with and are inviting prospects to visit the region.
