On May 12th, Bedford Mayor Shawna Girgis travelled to China on an eight-day business trip. Accompanied by Mr. Larry Ingraham (Ingraham & Associates) and Ms. Ellen Chen (William-Lynn-James), Mayor Girgis travelled to Shanghai, Hangzhou and Bedford’s sister city, Fenghua to meet with business, government and education leaders.
In Shanghai Mayor Girgis met with an executive of the Starr Company that is representing Indiana in China to discuss business interests. She then met with Zhejiang provincial officials in Hangzhou to discuss the investment attractions of Bedford/Lawrence County, and ways to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Indiana-Zhejiang sister-state relationship in 2017. In sister-city Fenghua Mayor Girgis met with Mayor Gao Haomeng, and signed an historic sister-school agreement between Bedford Middle School and the Fenghua Experimental Middle School that sets the stage for student/teacher exchanges between the two communities beginning in 2017. In addition, in both Hangzhou and Fenghua Mayor Girgis visited manufacturing companies that are interested in investing in the U.S. in the future. Her trip was dedicated to creating new opportunities for her community in the areas of culture, education and business.