Title
FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT STRATEGY FUNDING AGREEMENT.
Presented by: Chris Chronis, Chief Financial Officer.
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Approve and authorize the Chairman to sign the agreement.
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In December 2013, the Wichita region was chosen as one of eight communities in the United States to participate in the second cohort of the Brookings Institution Global Cities Initiative (“GCI”). The Global Cities Initiative is a project launched by the Brookings Institution (“Brookings”) in partnership with JPMorgan Chase in 2012 and is aimed at helping American communities strengthen regional economies through the development of export and foreign direct investment plans.
Wichita is one of 20 communities selected to participate in the GCI program. The other 19 communities are:
Atlanta GA Minneapolis, MN
Charleston, SC Phoenix, AZ
Chicago, IL Portland, OR
Columbus, OH Sacramento, CA
Des Moines, IA San Antonio, TX
Indianapolis, IN San Diego, CA
Jacksonville, FL Syracuse, NY
Los Angeles, CA Milwaukee, WI
Louisville, KY Tampa, FL
Upstate SC (Greensburn-Spartenburg-Anderson)
The Wichita area selected to participate in the program includes the following ten counties: Butler, Cowley, Harper, Harvey, Kingman, Marion, McPherson, Reno, Sedgwick, and Sumner.
Brookings has provided, and will continue to provide, market data for each community and will coordinate efforts by the peer communities.
The initial work on the GCI Initiative was the development of an export plan, which was completed in 2015 and now is being implemented. The purpose of the export plan is to identify ways to grow the local economy by increasing the use of foreign markets by local producers of goods and services.
The next phase of the GCI Initiative entails the preparation and implementation of a strategy to expand foreign direct investment in the local economy -- in other words, identify ways to grow the local economy by increasing the number and size of foreign-owned businesses lo...
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