Trip to Focus on Building Business Relationships & Promoting Wisconsin’s
Leadership in Stem Cell Research, Addressing Climate Change
Governor Jim Doyle will depart this week on a business trip to Ireland and the United Kingdom to build relationships with business and government officials and discuss Wisconsin’s leadership in stem cell research and addressing climate change. The Governor will visit Ireland and the UK April 23-28, 2008.
“This trip is an opportunity to strengthen important relationships with business and government officials and promote Wisconsin as a world leader in so many areas, from groundbreaking stem cell research to reducing greenhouse gas emissions,” Governor Doyle said.
Ireland Meetings
Governor Doyle will meet with top officials from the Kerry Group in Kerry, Ireland to discuss the company’s investments in Wisconsin and tour the Kerry flagship plant. The Kerry Group moved its North American headquarters to Beloit in 2006 and has multiple offices in Wisconsin.
Globally headquartered in Ireland, the Kerry Group is the parent company of Kerry Americas, a food technology company that is a leading provider of flavor enhancers and additives to the food and beverage industries. Last year, Kerry Americas broke ground on a new Centre for Excellence in Beloit that will retain 800 jobs and create 250 new jobs. The Centre will provide the company’s customers access to Kerry’s technologies, application center, and research and development labs at one location.
The Governor will also meet with Thomas C. Foley, the U.S. Ambassador to Ireland, and Mary Hannifin, Irish Minister of Education and Science.
London Meetings
Governor Doyle will meet with business, medical research, and government officials to discuss Wisconsin’s leadership in stem cell research, biotechnology, and the environment. Officials the Governor will meet are: Ian Pearson, MP, Minister of State for Science and Innovation, and Dr. Stephen Minger, an expert in the ethics of stem cells and part of the King’s College team that was the first UK group to successfully grow stem cells in the United Kingdom in 2003.
The Governor will discuss Wisconsin’s leadership in stem cell research and the World Stem Cell Summit that will be held in Madison on September 22-23, 2008. In 2006, Governor Doyle signed an Executive Order setting the goal of Wisconsin capturing 10 percent of the biotech, health science, and stem cell industry by 2015. The Executive Order also established a working relationship between the National Stem Cell Bank at the WiCell Research Institute in Madison and the United Kingdom Stem Cell Bank.
The Governor will also meet with John Ashton, Special Representative for Climate Change at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in London, and Phil Woolas, MP, Minister of State for the Environment, who attended the Midwestern Governor’s Association Energy, Security, and Climate Change Summit hosted by Governor Doyle in Milwaukee in 2007. Governor Doyle is working toward reaching an agreement between Wisconsin and Midwestern states and the UK on climate change.
Other officials the Governor will meet with in London are:
· Graham Mackay, CEO of SABMiller, to discuss the merger of Miller Brewing and Coors and the importance of Miller Brewing to Milwaukee and Wisconsin;
· Professor Lord Kumar Bhattacharyya of the University of Warwick to discuss the university’s successes in academic/industry partnerships, and to discuss the Warwick Manufacturing Group’s current partnerships with Wisconsin businesses such as GE Healthcare; and
· Robert Holmes Tuttle, U.S. Ambassador to the UK.
