Salt Lake City - The state of Utah will open a trade office in Torino, Italy at the end of the month, the site of the 2006 Olympic Winter Games. A press conference and ribbon-cutting ceremony are planned with government and business leaders from the Piedmont region on Wednesday, February 25 at 9:30 a.m. in Torino at the historic Palazzo Barolo (via delle Orfane, 7).

The Piedmont Region Minister of Business and Economic Development, the director of the Torino Chamber of Commerce, the director of the Piedmont foreign trade office, the director of Investments in Torino and Piedmont, as well as Jeff Gochnour, the Utah Director of Business and Economic Development, and the U.S. Consulate in Milan, are expected to participate.

Pangea International, an international business development consultancy that specializes in assisting U.S. companies to initiate new business activity in Europe and the Middle East, will run the Utah trade office in Italy. The company has a diversified base of clients from the U.S., including several companies from Utah.

"Utah has always had significant ties to Italy, and now the state is committed to turning those ties into solid trade relationships using the Olympic Winter Games connection as a starting point," says Utah Governor Olene Walker.

The state of Utah exports close to $40 million of goods annually to Italy, the seventh largest market in the world and the United States' tenth largest trading partner.

"I look forward to heading up this exciting initiative," says Pangea International president Chris Bowler, who recently left his full-time position with the Utah International Business Development Office in Salt Lake City to make Torino his home. "The Utah trade office in Italy will work directly with Utah companies to help them develop international business relationships."

Utah companies interested in doing business in Italy may contact the Utah International Business Development Office at (801) 538-8737 or the Utah trade office at Via XX Settembre 7, 10121 Torino, Italy, via phone at +39 011 1971 1967, fax at +39 011 82 53 110, or email at chris@jcbowler.com.

5:34:45 PM    

Salt Lake City - Utah Gov. Olene Walker has unveiled the 2004 schedule for the Utah! Trade Missions. The state will coordinate the post Olympic domestic and international trips to leverage the success of the 2002 Olympic Winter Games, which will include visits to future Olympic host cities. The trade missions are scheduled from March through October.

"We need to build our international image and support Utah businesses in their efforts to be effective players in the global economy," says Walker. "The door is still open for us to leverage the Utah brand of competence, natural beauty and great people."

Tentative schedule highlights:

• Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada - March 30-April 2, 2004
• San Jose, California - April 2, 2004
• China (Beijing, Shanghai) - April 19-29, 2004
• Europe (Brussels, Belgium; Saarbrücken, Germany) - June 5-12, 2004
• Athens, Greece - tentative August 2004
• Asia (Taipei, Taiwan; Seoul, Korea; Tokyo-Gifu, Japan) - October 12-23, 2004
• São Paulo, Brazil - Fall 2004

"The state has created a unified effort by inviting businesses, chambers of commerce, sports and tourism professionals, agricultural interests, cultural leaders, the educational community, athletes and others to join us," says Jeff Gochnour, director of the Utah Division of Business and Economic Development.

Zions Bank and Delta Airlines are official sponsors of the trade missions.

All registrations for the trade missions will be handled online. For more information, visit http://trademissions.utah.gov or contact the division's Utah International Business Development Office at (801) 538-8737 or trademissions@utah.gov

5:32:16 PM    

The Utah Public Art Program in partnership with the Division of Facilities and Construction Management announce a call for entries for the creation of public art for two new state facilities.

The new West Jordan Courts Facility is being constructed at 8050 South Redwood Road in West Jordan Utah. The facility will house district and juvenile court functions for a portion of Salt Lake County in the third judicial district and will serve the southwest population of Salt Lake County replacing the existing courthouse in Sandy, Utah. The facility will serve an estimated 900 to 1,200 patrons per day. Approximately 180 staff will be resident in the new facility.

Artists and/or artist teams are encouraged to submit proposals for the creation of site-specific artwork for this new facility. The art selection committee is interested in art that will foster the notion of the court as a part of the community and should speak to the courts relationship to the community and its role in problem solving and conflict resolution. The art should be inviting and create a feel of ease and openness to the community and families who take part in the facility. The all-inclusive budget for this project is $121,000. The deadline for receipt of proposals is April 2, 2004.

An optional pre-proposal information meeting for interested artists has been scheduled for March 3, 2004 at 5:30 p.m. at the Utah Public Art Program offices at 310 South Rio Grande (455 West) in the South Wing first floor of the Rio Grande (former) train station. This meeting will give artists the opportunity to direct specific questions about the project to the architect, Office of the Courts, Division of Facility Construction and Management and the Public Art Program as well as view site and building plans and elevations.

The second project, for the new West Valley Driver License office at 2180 West 4700 South in West Valley City, is nearing completion and will be open on April 12, 2004. This project's art selection committee is interested in existing artwork or an artwork created for the facility that relates to the services being offered by the division and the West Valley community. The all-inclusive budget for this project is $8,500. The deadline for receipt of proposals is April 30, 2004.

More information and the Request for Proposal documents on these projects and other local and National public art projects is available on the Utah Arts Council Public Art Program web site at: www.arts.utah.gov/publicart or by calling 801-533-3585 or 801-533-3586.

The Public Art Program of the Utah Arts Council was created in 1985 through the passage of the "Utah Percent for Art Act." Through this program over 150 artworks have been commissioned and placed in state building throughout the state. Each artwork has been commissioned through the committee process involving community, architects, arts councils and site users.

8:40:39 AM