Green River Area Development District
Serving Daviess, Hancock, Henderson, McLean, Ohio, Union & Webster Counties in Western Kentucky
GRADDify Your Community... Plan Today, Progress Tomorrow.
GRADDify Your Community... Plan Today, Progress Tomorrow.
3860 Highway 60 West, Owensboro, KY 42301 Phone: 270.926.4433 Fax: 270.684.0714
In June 2007, GRADD signed an official Sister Region agreement with the Olomouc Kraj, Czech Republic. The Olomouc region covers an area of 3,272 square miles in the northeastern Czech Republic and is home to 639,033 residents. Major cities include Olomouc, Jeseník, Přerov, Šumperk, and Prostějov.
A "Sister Region" partnership is simply an expansion of the "Sister City" concept, popularized across the United States during the Eisenhower administation in the 1950s. The goal of the GRADD-Olomouc relationship is "to become partner regions, based on the principles of equality, partnership, and mutual profitability." Areas of cooperation and exchange include: local government, economic development, tourism development, culture, sports, education, science, and research. Representatives from both regions make regular trips across the Atlantic to learn from one another.
The most recent exchange took place in November 2009, when GRADD officials traveled to the Czech Republic to participate in ceremonies marking the twentieth anniversary of that nation's "Velvet Revolution” of 1989. Daviess County judge/executive Reid Haire and Owensboro mayor Ron Payne visited the Olomouc Kraj as part of an international delegation that included representatives from Olomouc’s partner regions in Denmark, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Russia, and Serbia.
GRADD’s delegation toured significant sites and attended special lectures at Palacký University about the Czech Republic’s historic revolution, in which citizens peacefully overthrew a communist dictatorship in favor of democratic government. The group also met with current Czech elected officials and participated in numerous ceremonies celebrating this noteworthy anniversary.
To learn more information or to see a list of upcoming exchange opportunities, please visit the Owensboro Community & Technical College's Sister City/Region Program website.
A "Sister Region" partnership is simply an expansion of the "Sister City" concept, popularized across the United States during the Eisenhower administation in the 1950s. The goal of the GRADD-Olomouc relationship is "to become partner regions, based on the principles of equality, partnership, and mutual profitability." Areas of cooperation and exchange include: local government, economic development, tourism development, culture, sports, education, science, and research. Representatives from both regions make regular trips across the Atlantic to learn from one another.
The most recent exchange took place in November 2009, when GRADD officials traveled to the Czech Republic to participate in ceremonies marking the twentieth anniversary of that nation's "Velvet Revolution” of 1989. Daviess County judge/executive Reid Haire and Owensboro mayor Ron Payne visited the Olomouc Kraj as part of an international delegation that included representatives from Olomouc’s partner regions in Denmark, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Russia, and Serbia.
GRADD’s delegation toured significant sites and attended special lectures at Palacký University about the Czech Republic’s historic revolution, in which citizens peacefully overthrew a communist dictatorship in favor of democratic government. The group also met with current Czech elected officials and participated in numerous ceremonies celebrating this noteworthy anniversary.
To learn more information or to see a list of upcoming exchange opportunities, please visit the Owensboro Community & Technical College's Sister City/Region Program website.