In late winter, five visitors from Colombia visited Pensacola as a part of the U.S. Department of State International Visitor Leadership Program on a project titled Accessing Foreign Markets: Export Logistics from Rural Roads to Ports. On their first day in town, they attended a community coffee with Edward Posey, Julie Connerley, and Leigh and Kent DeSantis. A more formal meeting took place afterward with Pensacola City Council Executive Don Kraher who shared an overview of the city’s history and highlighted the function of city government.
Don Bailey next met the group and gave them a site visit of Bailey’s Produce and Nursery, an agricultural produce and plant market which since 1938 has linked local farmers directly with customers in the Pensacola area. Conversation focused on how rural small business owners and businesses work together to create long-term sustainable success. Then, at Brett Ward Farm Brett Ward, owner of one of the largest cattle and cotton production operations in Escambia County, guided the group around his operation, giving the Colombians the opportunity to see an American farm and to discuss the sale and export of agriculture and livestock.
The Escambia County Extension Service, part of the University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Science, was their next stop where Carrie Stevenson explained how her office provides practical, how-to education based on research conducted by the university. Then the group walked next door to meet Jeremy Johnson for an overview of Escambia 4-H. The group discussed the work of 4-H in rural communities and how their programs and volunteer efforts build life skills and contribute to workforce development
On their last full day in northwest Florida, the group met Andrea Moore of Enterprise Florida. Enterprise Florida provides an array of programs and services to Florida manufacturers and exporters and works with a statewide network of trade and economic development partners. The discussion focused on statewide economic development and the immersion into the global marketplace.
The Gulf Coast Citizen Diplomacy Council thanks everyone who helped make this project a success.
