Vice Mayor Marilyn Librers will travel to China this month on a mission to promote Morgan Hill as an ideal place for foreign companies to set up shop.
Librers will be one of 12 Santa Clara Valley mayors and vice mayors selected by the Asian American Economic and Cultural Association to attend the economic development tour. Each traveler will be promoting their city as a place for Chinese companies to do business. The trip will last from June 16 to June 27, and the travelers will visit the Chinese cities of Beijing, Shanghai, Wuhan and Shenzhen.
“I’ll be doing sales when I’m over there, to represent Morgan Hill and to entice companies to relocate to Morgan Hill,” Librers said. “One of Morgan Hill’s goals is to bring in employers (whose) employees can afford to live in our community.”
A city staff report submitted by Mayor Steve Tate to the city council says the purpose of the trip is to “facilitate investment and international trade between China and the Silicon Valley region.”
Librers was invited by trip co-sponsor the China Silicon Valley Foundation to submit an application to attend.
During the approval process, Librers said she told the organizers that Morgan Hill has what Chinese companies are likely to look for when seeking cities in the U.S. to expand their operations—empty industrial space, vacant land on which to grow, affordable housing and a “reverse commute” to cities to the north.
The itinerary for the trip includes meeting with local Chinese government officials and business owners, and “touring manufacturing facilities specific to what Morgan Hill is looking for,” Librers said.
She will also visit Specialized Bicycle Components’ Shanghai facility. The corporate headquarters for Specialized are in Morgan Hill, on Concord Circle.
Travel expenses for Librers and her fellow Silicon Valley officials are paid for by the nonprofit Asian American Economic and Cultural Association and the governments of the four cities they will visit.
The city council June 4 approved sending up to $5,000 worth of promotional materials with Librers, such as business cards, an informational book on Morgan Hill, a contribution for plaques from the four cities on the tour and gifts to each city from Morgan Hill.
Tate’s report to the council notes that Librers’ participation in the trip “will foster the city council’s goals of participation in regional (and, in this case, international) issues and will advance economic development in the city.”
