More than 100 Richmond-area business and local government leaders are to arrive in Austin, Texas, today for a capital-to-capital experience.
The Greater Richmond Chamber's 19th InterCity Visit runs through Friday, and the group will meet with Austin government and business leaders. There they will learn about issues such as the local economic impact on Austin's music industry, the business and cultural evolution of the city and why Forbes.com calls Austin America's second-most innovative city.
Austin Mayor Lee Leffingwell will welcome the group during lunch at a downtown hotel.
Chamber officials said Austin was a clear first choice this year because it thrives in areas that are important to the Richmond area, including economic development and innovation, "optimizing our role as a capital city, (and) strengthening the impact of our role in the mega region."
The visits provide an opportunity to strengthen relationships among area leaders, learn about regional cooperation in other regions and examine practices that can be put to use locally.
"It gives us the ability to see how other localities provide assistance to one another … and tells us what's going on so that we can improve the Richmond area by looking at what else is going on," said Henrico County Manager Virgil R. Hazelett, who is sending the county's finance director, John A. Vithoulkas, on the trip. "Most of the time we do learn that the Richmond area is doing very well, in reference to cooperation, in reference to ideas for the future and so forth," Hazelett said.
Past visits include North Carolina's Raleigh-Durham region and Oklahoma City.
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