To celebrate the 40th anniversary of Macon-Bibb County’s Sister City relationship with Kurobe, Japan, a delegation will travel overseas from October 9 – October 14 for the 2017 International Government and Cultural Excursion. These trips are meant to bring the two cities and countries together, and in the past several years, the focus has been on providing this chance to local students. Each year, the trip alternates on who will travel, and this year, 15 students from Rutland High School will make the trip.
During the trip, the delegation will attend several Sister City lunches and ceremonies at various locations, including Kurobe City Hall, and tour YKK Kurobe and the local high school, hospital, water purification center, and museums and galleries.
“By focusing on our young adults – by helping them bridge distance, language, and culture – we have the potential to see this partnership…this relationship…grow exponentially the next 40 years,” says Macon-Bibb County Mayor Robert Reichert. “What we show our young people today can impact them for decades, and by exposing them to other countries, help them realize that we are more alike than we are different. We know they’ll take the lessons learned through these visits to create a better world.”
“In 1972, the single most important factor in YKK’s decision to choose Macon for our manufacturing facility was the unbridled enthusiasm of Macon’s citizens, who never let their genuine hospitality wane over months of meetings and negotiations leading up to the decision,” says YKK Chairman and CEO Alex Gregory. “Over the past four decades, Macon has welcomed countless YKK employees from Japan, educated many Japanese children in their schools, and made our Japanese colleagues feel that they are truly a part of the community. Today, through the sister city relationship between Macon and YKK’s hometown of Kurobe, Japan, all the citizens of Macon and Kurobe can benefit from this special bond. We hope that Mayor Reichert and the delegation of students are able to learn more about both our company and the special role YKK plays in building international understanding and friendship between Japan and the United States.”
Also on the trip will be Mayor Robert Reichert, Dele Reichert, Jessica Cork with YKK Corporation of America, Interim County Manager Charles Coney, Rutland High School Student Delegation Coordinator Rebecca Morgan, Director of Small Business Affairs Dr. James Bumpus, Macon Water Authority Senior Executive of Strategic Planning Lisa Golphin, and Clerk of Bibb County Superior Court Erica Woodford.
The trip is funded thanks to the generosity of YKK and the City of Kurobe, so, other than a few small gifts Mayor Reichert will present to officials in Kurobe, there will be no cost to Macon-Bibb County.
About the Macon-Bibb/Kurobe Sister City Relationship
This is the 40th year that Macon and Kurobe have been Sister Cities. During that time, about 1,000 people have traveled between the two cities, and Kurobe has donated more than 3,400 lanterns and 60,000 tulips to Macon.
On March 1, 1977, the City of Macon and Kurobe City, Japan, entered into an official Sister City relationship. Under then Mayor Buck Melton, the resolution was signed affirming warm and friendly relations between the two cities. It highlighted YKK Industries of Kurobe City, Toyama-ken, Japan as having established one of the world’s most modern and efficient zipper manufacturing facilities in Macon-Bibb, and thereby providing employment opportunities for many people.
- The Sister City relationship focuses on four objectives:
- Establish cultural and educational exchange programs;
- Establish and create trade, industrial, and commercial relationships between Macon, Middle Georgia, and Kurobe City;
- Develop medical and health care interchange programs to benefit the citizens of the two cities; and
•Share in programs of education and information so as to create understanding and good will between the people of Kurobe and Macon (now Macon-Bibb County).
About YKK
YKK Group consists of a network of 114 companies operating in 71 countries around the world operating under two brands: YKK® brand fastening products, which manufactures zippers, hook & loop fasteners, plastic buckles and notions, webbing, and snaps & buttons, and YKK AP® brand architectural products, which manufactures storefronts, curtain walls, entrances, sun controls, windows and doors. YKK entered the U.S. market in 1960 as Yoshida International, a zipper distributor. In 1972, YKK Corporation purchased 54 acres in Ocmulgee Park in Macon, GA to build its National Manufacturing Center, which opened in 1974. Today, YKK (U.S.A.) Inc. occupies 300 acres in Macon and offers more than 1,500 styles of plastic and metal zippers, the automated equipment to install them, plus hook and loop fastening tape systems, plastic buckles and notions, and snaps and buttons. YKK AP entered the U.S. architectural products market with imported YKK AP products in 1984, and opened its first manufacturing facility in Dublin, GA in 1992. Today, YKK AP America Inc. consists of commercial products manufacturing facilities in Dublin, GA and Coppell, TX as well as a residential products manufacturing facility located in Macon, Georgia.