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Sister Cities International gains momentum
Submitted Graphic:
Wes Dunham, a student at the CTE Center, created the winning black and red logo for Frisco’s Sister Cities International. Dianna Bacon's Graphic Design and Illustration class implemented the logo’s design into their curriculum last spring.
By Jessica Rush, jrush@acnpapers.com
Just about everything the city of Frisco does has an international component in it, whether it be in business, the sports arena or in class rooms. To enrich economic, athletic, educational and cultural opportunities, Frisco will eventually partner with at least four “sister cities” across four continents as part of the Frisco Texas Sister Cities International (SCI) project.
Last year, Mayor Maher Maso appointed a committee to research whether a sister city program would be the next direction Frisco should take to further establish an international presence.
“The world is getting smaller,” Maso said. “Recognizing that we are already an international city, I wanted to take that to a next level that benefits Frisco.”
“What we did was set up parameters in the beginning and gave them to Collin College,” Krasa said.
A curriculum was set up based on drilling down the data to five or six cities from four continents: South America, Africa, Asia or Europe. The college students gave their selections to the committee, which narrowed those choices down to the top three. SCI extended invitations to those cities, two in Sweden and one in Spain, with the hope that they can start building a relationship.
Maso and Krasa were invited to speak at the SCI Conference in Albuquerque, NM this July.
“I found at the conference, just because you extend an invitation to a city to be a match, doesn’t mean they’ll necessarily accept an invitation,” Krasa said.
Although Frisco has yet to establish a permanent sister city, Maso said the attendees were very impressed as he spoke about the tools Frisco used in an effort to get the program running.
“We have already been recognized, because the process we used was very deliberate and organized,” Maso said, adding that SCI has received support from the Frisco Chamber of Commerce, sports teams, Frisco ISD, the Frisco Economic Development Corporation, the Frisco Convention & Visitors Bureau and Frisco Association for the Arts. “I joke that we received three marriage proposals while we were there.”
The purpose behind all the preparation and networking is to one day establish a Frisco Sister Cities calendar that will highlight cultural events and exchanges from the foreign cities, even group trips to visit the partner cities.
Starting in the fall, SCI will focus on the learning aspect of the exchange through educational programs in various areas such as art and business. In the next few weeks, residents will be able to visit www.friscosistercities.org (still under construction) to sign up for membership and start receiving information about the available programs.
Frisco Texas SCI will also have a presence at the Aug. 30 Town Hall meeting, which will take place from 7 – 9 p.m. at the George A. Purefoy Municipal Center.
“We’re definitely looking to get out in the public and have other non-profits and businesses share our vision – to really stay connected with the world and gain knowledge,” Krasa said.
Maso said the sister city partnerships in the future will be mutually beneficial to both cities even though Frisco Texas SCI plans to function as a non-profit.
“Frisco can’t stick its head in the sand – the economy has become global,” Maso said. “We want to be cognizant of our tax payer dollars, so it’s really going to be dependent on our citizens and business leaders to work.”
For information on Frisco Texas SCI, e-mail info@friscosistercities.org.
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