Market Access International is the presenting sponsor of Global Atlanta's Canada Channel. Subscribe here for monthly Canada newsletters.
Gwinnett County leaders returned energized from a three-day Montreal mission this month that focused on the future of transit, technology and economic development.
Spending Sept. 10-12 in the Quebec commercial capital and global leader in industries like aerospace, visual effects and artificial intelligence gave government officials, business leaders and economic boosters a chance to explore lessons from a peer community across a variety of domains.
It was the 19th year of the Strategic Leadership Visit, an annual program that over the last few years has concentrated on dynamic American hubs like Austin, Seattle, Boston and San Diego.
During the excursions, participants deepen their networks with fellow travelers Gwinnett while gaining the chance to learn the inner workings and best practices of other communities.
Or, as a wrapup from the chamber puts it:
By studying communities that share similar challenges and opportunities, Gwinnett’s leaders return home with actionable ideas to strengthen economic vitality and enhance quality of life. Montreal added another chapter to a long tradition of trips that have sparked transformative results for the county.
The chamber had planned to take the trip north of the border in 2020 but were prevented by the pandemic. The five-year pause gave chamber leaders all the more time to plan an in-depth itinerary that included meetings with U.S. Consul General Robert P. Sanders and Montreal International, the metro area’s investment agency, launched in 1996 to focus on growing the region’s trade and talent networks.
Soon after arrival, they were greeted by a face familiar to some: Isabelle Dessureault, who served a nearly two-year stint as head of the Quebec delegation to Atlanta. Ms. Dessureault, a business veteran before joining the province’s diplomatic corps, in June took up a new post as president and CEO of the Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan Montreal, which greeted the Gwinnett group at a welcome reception.
With transportation emerging as a theme, they also took a ride on the Réseau express métropolitain, or REM, an automated light rail line inaugurated two years ago, before visiting the suburb of Laval to observe two redevelopment projects. Education leaders met with English Montreal School Board, while delegates also visited the headquarters of Cirque du Soleil, the famed performance troupe set to return to Atlanta yet again this fall with Luzia.
They wrapped up the trip with a fireside chat with Fred Chanay of Mila, an AI research institute.
Serendipitously, the group returned just weeks before the Gwinnett Chamber is set to host the Sept. 30 edition of Global Atlanta Consular Conversations, a luncheon that will feature an interview with Montreal native Rosaline Kwan, the current Canadian consul general to the Southeast U.S. based in Atlanta. (Learn more about the event and sign up here — Gwinnett Chamber members and trip returnees get special pricing, and Global Atlanta Passport members attend free of charge)
A trade expert with extensive experience in Asia, Ms. Kwan will describe the latest developments in the bilateral trade relationship at a volatile time for U.S.-Canada relations.
It’s not the first time metro-area and state leaders have traded notes with Montreal. In 2023, the Atlanta Regional Commission took 120 people there on a delegation headlined by Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens.
Quebec and Georgia also share a partnership through the Regional Leaders Summit and are founding members of the SEUS/Canadian Provinces alliance.
The Pendleton Group is the presenting sponsor of Global Atlanta's Economic Development Channel. Subscribe here for monthly Economic Development newsletters.