Officials say European trip valuable

BANGOR – Three Bangor officials who took part in Gov. John Baldacci’s recent European trade mission hope their efforts will pay off in new jobs and increased visits from tourists.

About 30 government, business and development officials from Maine accompanied the governor on the weeklong trade trip to Germany and Italy, a publicly funded visit aimed at helping the state’s business grow through increased international trade.

The Maine International Trade Center coordinated the trip in which the group focused its efforts on Dusseldorf, Germany, and Milan, Italy.

“When we travel with the governor, he opens doors that we can’t open traveling on our own,” Rodney McKay, the city’s community and economic development director, said Friday in an interview.

“We were obviously hosted very well, and the consulates [of both countries] really made a lot a arrangements for us to meet with businesses and explain how to do business in Maine,” McKay said.

In addition to McKay, the Bangor delegation consisted of Councilor Dan Tremble, who last month completed his year-long term as council chairman, and Tony Caruso, assistant director of Bangor International Airport, which sponsored a reception at the Italian Consulate in Milan.

“We were there to promote Bangor,” McKay said. “It was a good effort. It all took place within a week. We were going 24-7, so there wasn’t a lot of downtime.

“Right now, the euro is so strong, relative to the U.S. dollar, that Europeans can buy a third more with their money,” McKay said.

Though the state had a number of goals it hoped to accomplish through the visit, Bangor’s main focus, McKay said, was to attract foreign “direct investment,” or the kinds of foreign investments that translate into jobs for local people.

In his report to the City Council’s business and economic development last week, McKay said that one of the points of the trip was to “explain what Maine is all about and what we have to offer.”

Also during the meeting, Tremble said that the governor singled out Bangor several times during the trip.

“I think the biggest thing we’re going to get out of this is tourism,” he said.

Caruso, who joined the group after having participated in a major international tourism show in London, also took a side trip to Hamburg, Germany, with the Maine Port Authority to discuss issues surrounding cargo movement.

Regarding tourism, Caruso said European travelers “like Maine and they like New England” and that tour operators “typically package Maine as a piece of the New England puzzle.”

“It’s an untapped market,” he said. “We’ll see where the contacts lead us.”

Tremble also said that some of the European officials the group met during the trip were impressed to meet a city councilor.

“I think they think we’re more important than we actually are,” Tremble quipped during the meeting.