Emporia Main Street Director Casey Woods says a recent trip to Japan may be bearing more than one kind of fruit both locally and nationally.
At the national level, Woods noted the recent trip was in part to help facilitate the future launch of Main Street Japan, a national Main Street program with a similar mission and focus as Main Street USA.
For Emporia specifically, Woods says the trip provided an opportunity to broach several topics, starting with the facilitation of educational exchange programs through Emporia State University. Woods says this is an initiative “We have been working on for quite a while now,” and the opportunity to meet with “additional officials” has helped to expedite that process.
Secondly, Woods says Emporia Main Street’s approach to travel and tourism locally is considered “unique,” namely the list and nature of events hosted in the downtown corridor and across the community, and could create “some crossover opportunities” with their Japanese counterparts in rural areas of the country.
Woods says there have been “some talks” about the prospect of “exchange,” which sees tourists coming to rural Kansas to broaden their view of the United States, which is often known only for its metropolitan way of life in foreign countries.
A third component to the possibilities locally comes in the form of potential business expansion into the United States, possibly Emporia. However, Woods says it is unclear at this time if that is a relationship that can be fostered locally and will remain unclear until after the November 4th general election.
Woods explained the potential businesses are not related to data centers; however, they do utilize certain equipment that may be prohibited based on how the community votes come November 4th.
Woods’ visit to Japan followed the annual Great American Market in downtown Emporia on September 12th, which saw more than 11,000 individuals attend over the course of the event. For more information on Emporia Main Street, its programs, or upcoming events, visit EmporiaMainStreet.com.
