Tullahoma News (Tullahoma, TN)
Posted on December 9, 2002
Five members of a Russian delegation visiting Tennessee on an economic development study are making Tullahoma home base this week.
The visit is sponsored by Open World, a U.S. Congress program, and managed by the Center for Russian Leadership Development at the Library of Congress, an independent agency.
Local arrangements are in charge of the Tullahoma Noon Rotary Club.
Included in the visiting group are the deputy heads of property management or administration in three regions and the general director of a Moscow-based company which manages industrial and military real estate holdings.
The group arrived in Nashville by air Saturday morning and are scheduled to depart next Sunday morning.
Rotarians have organized the professional program, meals, the homestays, local transportation and cultural activities.
Monday, the delegation is scheduled to visit with the Tullahoma Industrial Development Board, Deutsch Industrial Products Division and Goodrich Landing Gear, sites with which the board was involved.
The group will also visit the Chamber of Commerce to learn about local networking and a meeting with the Board of Mayor and Aldermen at city hall.
Highlights of a Tuesday trip to Nashville - after breakfast with thre Tullahoma Sunrise Rotary Club - include a tour of the State Capital and a meeting with John Word, the state director of European and Canadian investment.
Wednesday, the group heads for Huntsville for the day, including a tour of the NASA's Space & Rocket Center.
The group travels Thursday to Chattanooga for Chamber of Commerce and Industrial Development Board visits.
Back in Tullahoma Friday, the agenda includes breakfast with Tullahoma High School students, a meeting with the Tullahoma News staff and publisher, a meeting with the Financial Forum president, a Hands-On Science Center tour, a farewell dinner at the McDonald's Restaurant Office and a South Jackson Civic Center music recital.
Saturday's activities include a trip to Savage Gulch Wilderness Area and a farewell dinner that evening.
Some 2,500 of the Russian leaders will be brought to the United States under the Open World program this year.
More than 6,000 emerging leaders from 89 regions in Russia have visited all 50 states since the program's inception in 1999.
©The Tullahoma News 2003
[Reprinted with Permission]
