German delegation visits City of Brighton

The City of Brighton received a visit Thursday from Dr. Uli Paetzel, mayor of Herten, Germany, and Stefan Locke, a reporter from the Frankfurther Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung newspaper. The delegation met with Brighton Mayor Dick McLean, City Manager Manuel Esquibel and Economic Development Corporation President-CEO Raymond Gonzales.

The group discussed the operations of Brighton and Herten’s city governments, economic development, job creation, community growth, and business incentives.

The German delegation was invited with the support of the Department of State’s International Visitor Leadership Program on a program entitled “Countering the Economic and Social Problems of Communities in Decline”. This program is arranged by the Meridian International Center with assistance from the Institute of International Education Program.

International delegations are often referred by the state to visit Brighton due to the city’s demographics, economic background and/or population that is similar to the town/city the delegations are visiting from.

“We feel very honored to have this delegation visit Brighton,” said Brighton Mayor Dick McLean. “They were very interested in learning how Colorado has remained better off than other states during the recession and what projects Brighton has specifically been working on. Hearing about their city process was also a great learning experience for us.”

The Department of State has outlined the following objectives for the International Visitor Leadership Program:

· To provide an overview of U.S. economic policies and strategic planning for economic and social recovery at the federal, state and local levels in government.
· To learn about the role of community programs, grassroots advocacy, and public-private partnerships in the renewal of a variety of sectors, including cultural and tourism development, urban revitalization, workforce retaining, and new business development.
· To explore how community organizations and government partners provide business and educational opportunities for marginalized and minority communities.