sisterkorea

Posted November 2003

Chattanooga gained its fifth Sister City during ceremonies in Gangneung, South Korea, last month.

A delegation from Chattanooga, including three members of the Sister Cities Association and the Chattanooga Chamber’s chief economic development officer, participated in the formalization of the partnership between Chattanooga and Gangneung on October 30.

Officials from the South Korean coastal city visited Chattanooga in May as the first step in creating a sister-city relationship and an economic partnership. In August the Sister Cities board voted to pursue the partnership.

Gangneung is a city of 230,000 people located about 150 miles east of the South Korean capital of Seoul.

The Chattanooga delegation at the Gangneung ceremonies included Seong Glickman, Sister Cities Association vice president; Trevor Hamilton of the Chamber; Bill Prince, Sister Cities president-elect; and Woong Rhee, a Chattanooga importer-exporter.

The delegation carried a proclamation, signed by Mayor Corker, authorizing the relationship between the two cities. The Chattanooga party participated in a formal signing ceremony and exchanged gifts with their hosts, including the mayor of the city and the chair of the city council.

"They really rolled out the red carpet for us," said Hamilton, who was in Korea as a member of Governor Bredesen’s Tennessee delegation to meetings of the Korea/Southeast U.S. Joint Conference in Seoul. "We had lunch and dinner with Gangneung political and business leaders, toured municipal buildings and visited historic sites and cultural museums."

Hamilton pointed out that though located half-way around the globe from each other, the new sister cities have much in common, from their population size to their thriving tourism industry.

"It’s an asset to Chattanooga to have exposure and relationships in foreign markets," Hamilton said. "We may be positioned better than others when business opportunities come along because of our relationship. In Asian culture it’s all about relationship-building, even down to the business deal."

A native of South Korea and president of the local Korean Association, Ms. Glickman was instrumental in arranging the Sister City agreement. "I know Gangneung very well," she said. "It’s a wonderful place with a beach and snow-skiing. It’s a four-season tourist city."

Once she discovered that Ft. Lauderdale was interested in a partnership with Gangneung, she redoubled her efforts on behalf of Chattanooga. She emphasized the similarities between the Scenic City and the South Korean tourist town and pointed out that Chattanooga has a population of 3,000 Koreans.

Ms. Glickman hopes the relationship will result in economic growth for both cities, student exchange programs and opportunities for cross-cultural enrichment in the arts. She said Gangneung officials told her the city has set aside $40,000 a year to send students here for college studies.

Prince, who heads the reference services at UTC, carried messages from Chancellor Bill Stacy and Hugh Prevost, head of UTC’s international study abroad program, to officials of Kangnung University about the possibility of exploring exchanges between the two schools.

Chattanooga also has Sister City partnerships with Giv’atayim, Israel; Hamm, Germany; Nizhnii Tagil, Russia; and Wuxi, China.

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The Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce is the leading business and economic development organization for the Chattanooga region. For over 100 years, the Chattanooga Chamber has provided community engagement and opportunities for businesses, large and small, including networking, business promotion, business discounts, and public policy advocacy, as well as leadership development and training opportunities.

In addition, the Chattanooga Chamber is a one-stop-shop for site selectors and business decision-makers considering investments and job creation projects in the Chattanooga region. The Chattanooga Chamber is also responsible for marketing Enterprise South Industrial Park, a top-tier industrial park that offers significant strategic business advantages. In addition, the Chattanooga Chamber administers the Chattanooga Hamilton County Business Development Center, the largest business incubator in the U.S. in terms of the number of start up companies it houses, and the Center for Entrepreneurial Growth, an innovative effort to nurture technology-based start-up companies.

As the first stop for people interested in moving to the Chattanooga, the Chattanooga Chamber provides a range of relocation information including demographics, informational videos, connections to Chattanooga Area jobs, and frequently asked questions.