The Prince George’s County Economic Development Corporation recently hosted a delegation of 10 graduate students and alumni from the George Washington University Elliott School of International Affairs who want to learn about the international activities and employment opportunities in the county.
EDC President and CEO Jim Coleman joined his international business development and human resources teams engaged in an interactive discussion on Aug. 25 with the students, focusing on EDC’s role in connecting top talent with well-paying careers.
“The EDC is doing a lot of outreach to the major universities in the region looking for fresh talent for our job creators. These international graduate students from George Washington University are another step the County is taking to build bridges to the future,” Coleman said. “And the best way to build bridges is to have architects that can help you to build that bridge.” Today, we identified10 future architects of international business development who can help the county executive build that bridge to the future and all over the world. Their eagerness and desire can help us to create more employment opportunities for our residents and job creators in Prince George’s County.”
As part of the EDC’s efforts to bridge the gap between college students and the jobs of the future in the county, the agency reached out to the Elliott School to participate in their 2016 Employer Site Visits program.
Members of the delegation were extremely interested to learn that the county has deliberately targeted Mexico, China, Canada, Korea, South Africa and Nigeria as part of its international strategy primarily because they are the fastest growing economies in the world.
The students were also interested to hear that County Executive Rushern Baker is planning a business mission this fall to Cuba to form relationships with Cuban businesses and officials and investment interests in the future.
“I am very excited to be here today to hear all about the international business development going on with the Economic Development Corporation,” said Ryan Li, delegation leader and second-year Elliott student who is studying international trade and policy. “Working with the EDC would be an ideal career for me. As an international student [from Beijing], it was good to learn that using my background from my own country can make me a more valuable employee in the United States and could help my home country in the process.”
The students said they were also impressed with the EDC’s focus on connecting local businesses to clients and partners around the world.
“Today’s event gave me a new perspective on employment opportunities right at my back door,” said Joan Lindo, a GW Elliott School alumnus. “I liked how the EDC outlined its focus on creating jobs, but I was especially impressed at how they look beyond jobs to the market and trade,” she said. “That really resonated with me. They talked to us about the linkage between local employers connecting abroad and doing foreign direct investment here. That is a benefit to everyone.”