Kelowna

A five-member delegation from Scottsdale, Arizona, are in Kelowna for three days of meetings with local political and business leaders.

This is a reciprocal visit after Mayor Walter Gray, several councillors and business people from Kelowna visited the Arizona city in early May.

Photo: Contributed - Joseph Plotz

View of the Scottsdale Waterfront on a clear December day.

Both visits were arranged through the newly formed Kelowna Scottsdale Business Council (KSBC).

The Scottsdale delegation, which includes mayor Jim Lane, will visit City Hall, the Central Okanagan Economic Development Commission, Accelerate Okanagan, UBC Okanagan, Kelowna International Airport, Kelowna Flightcraft and various wineries.

"The objectives of these meetings are to introduce Kelowna to the Scottsdale community and identify ways to increase trade and commerce between the two cities facilitated by KSBC," says organization co-founder, Brad Field.

"These meetings (in Scottsdale) identified a number of areas where the two cities could increase trade, and the KSBC model, which is to help support existing economic development initiative through support from a member based organization, is now being looked upon as an innovative model for future growth initiatives."

Scottsdale was selected as a potential trade partner because the two cities are similar in size, lifestyle opportunities, tourism base, technology base and educational opportunities.

A networking and business roundtable will be held Friday morning from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. in the Woodhaven Room at the Regional District office on KLO Road.

Castanet is a co-sponsor of the tour with the city of Kelowna. We will have more news as we follow the delegation around the city on Friday Sept. 14.