“They will give our attendees a flavor of how to do business in China, what’s happening in China,” Phil Parker, the Dayton chamber’s president and chief executive officer, said of the Chinese hosts. “We see it as opening doors.”
Parker, who went on a trip to China in 2009 with leaders of other U.S. chambers of commerce, isn’t going on this one. He is sending two aides, Chris Kershner, the chamber’s vice president for public policy and economic development, and Stephanie Precht, director of public policy, to accompany business members of the chamber and spouses.
Richard “Rip” Hale, director of wealth management at the Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC office in Dayton, said it will be valuable to make the trip with other business people to get a shared perspective of the potential investment opportunities and risks in China.
“Before I put significant money over there — mine or my clients’ — I want to see it for myself,” Hale said Wednesday, Feb. 24.
The economies of China, along with Brazil, Russia and India, are growing and are appealing markets for investment, he said.
Harry Bossey, president and general manager of Western TradeWinds Inc., a Miamisburg export-import company, said he hopes to make personal contacts in China that could lead to business opportunities. His company specializes in exporting compressors, pumps, valves and other industrial equipment and is looking for additional markets, he said.
“I’ve never been to China,” Bossey said. “I’m going to meet some business contacts, some of my counterparts, learn about best practices and, hopefully, bring some of that back home.”
The Dayton group’s trip will include meetings in Beijing arranged by the U.S. Department of Commerce and the American Chambers of Commerce Abroad, an organization that promotes U.S. business interests in foreign countries. Also scheduled are business visits to Shanghai and Hangzhou, and sightseeing stops in those cities, Beijing, at the Great Wall and other locations.
Dayton chamber officials said they hired Citslinc International Inc., a California company that has arranged similar China trips for the Greater Akron Chamber of Commerce and other organizations, to make the arrangements.
The chamber is to pay the travel costs of Kershner and Precht. Chamber members were told to expect expenses including a $1,999 fare.
The Dayton chamber, a business federation supported by member fees, declined to identify most of those making the trip or their organizations. That is considered confidential unless the travelers agreed to be identified, Kershner said.
Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2242 or jnolan@DaytonDailyNews.com.
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