Mayor John Dickert meets with the Sister City Committee on Tuesday.Committee Chairman Al Guetzlaff sits in the left corner.
Mayor John Dickert may be looking outside of Racine – way outside of Racine – for business opportunities.
The new mayor told the city’s Sister City Committee this week that he’s hoping to expand the program and broaden its focus from cultural exchanges to business relationships.
Dickert suggested the committee study grant opportunities through the U.S. Department of Commerce to help investigate business opportunities. He’s particularly interested in connecting with cities in China, Costa Rica and Canada. Grants and business sponsorships could help pay for expanding the program, Dickert said.
But, he added he intended to consider the Sister City program in the city's upcoming budget. Dickert told committee members he wanted to make Racine’s Sister City Program “bigger and more grandiose for everybody.”
“I think there’s nothing but opportunity here,” Dickert said.
A first step for the Sister City Committee will be filling three vacancies on the 18-member board. Just six people showed up to their meeting this week.
Long-time Chairman Al Guetzlaff – he’s worked with five mayors as head of the Sister City committee – said it’s not unusual for the committee to have lulls, particularly when there are no events in the near future.
Racine was preparing to host a group of students from Oiso, Japan this summer, but the trip fell through because of concerns over the H1N1 flu.
The committee recently helped host a group of students from Montelimar, France. The students visited The Prairie School, toured Racine and spent a day in Chicago.
Guetzlaff said he hopes to find “workers” not “bench” players to fill the three vacancies. In other words, the committee needs people who are really interested in working on the program.
Racine has Sister City relationships with Oiso, Montelimar, Aalborg, Denmark, and Zapotlanejo, Mexico.
Members of the Sister City Committee include: Martine Albritton, Alderman Bob Anderson, Jay Christie, Dick Ehlert, Jerry Greenfield, Guetzlaff, Tom Kennedy, Pedro Lopez, Amy Maack, Linda O’Connell, Dwayne Olsen, Bill Pucci, Keiko Skow and Rachel Westergren.
Anyone interested in joining the Sister City Committee can contact Al Guetzlaff at: guetzlaffrev@sbcglobal.net.
