TWIN FALLS, Idaho — "As you get outside of Paris, it looks a lot like Idaho," Lieutenant Governor Scott Bedke told Idaho News 6. He was talking about the landscape, but also about the agricultural industries of both regions.
"There's a lot of food being processed in both areas... Dairy farmers are dairy farmers anywhere you go, and milk processors are milk processors, so a very familiar setting and feel to their agriculture," he said.
Amid recent turbulence in global trade, Idaho leaders have not wavered in their efforts to forge relationships and explore business opportunities abroad. A delegation from Idaho recently returned from a whirlwind tour of France, where they engaged face-to-face with businesses and local leaders.
Bedke was one of the Idaho officials who toured several French companies as part of this effort to strengthen existing ties while seeking new opportunities.
Jan Rogers, from the Southern Idaho Economic Development Organization, mentioned that the connection with France had begun a few years ago when a French delegation visited Twin Falls.
"We were one of the sites the delegation visited in the U.S., and it was Chicago, Minneapolis, and Twin Falls, Idaho," Rogers said.
This year, Rogers and Bedke returned to France, accompanied by local business and university leaders.
"As we go through the process of just learning and sharing, we're seeing opportunities that would be a great fit for our region," Rogers explained.
The primary goal of the visit was not to ink contracts, but to build relationships and explore how Idaho might be suitable for French businesses, while also identifying ways Idaho businesses can connect with European customers.
"We're constantly looking for new markets, especially our markets that would be open to the product that we sell, which is very effective for bio-nutrition fertilizer," said Sam Straight, COO of Redox Bionutritients in Burley. Straight, who also speaks French, joined the trip as a means of gaining introductions with likeminded ag products companies to explore joint projects that could lead to more innovation and access to larger markets.
"being able to go with the Southern Idaho Economic Development delegation allowed us to have access to people and opportunities that would be very difficult to do on our own," Straight said.
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