Northern Nevada is making connections with an unusual business partner, Poland. State officials are welcoming prospective Polish companies to the area and Thursday night was the opening of a new Poland Acceleration Space for businesses looking to expand to the Biggest Little City.
A the ribbon cutting ceremony Thursday was held at the UNR Innevation Center.Â
The Lubeleski region of Poland and Nevada signed an understanding agreement in hopes of bettering trade relations between the two. That means Nevada will now have ties to Poland for business and we will be seeing Polish companies making their footprint here too.Â
Governor Brian Sandoval said, "They're going to have a permanent location right here at the Innevation Center in Reno. And this really is history, it's the first time a nation has partnered with the state of Nevada."
The agreement between Poland and Nevada has been in the works for the last four years. As a result of Governor Sandoval's European trade mission this past summer, it became a reality.
"We are pretty impressed of what you can offer. We also are here to promote what our companies, our institutions can offer to yours," said Pawl Petrasienski, the Minister Council of the Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Washington D.C.
While Nevada will have the opportunity to join the European market, delegates from Poland are networking with local companies to expand.Â
"We already have commitments from Polish companies that are going to come and take up residency in Carson City," said Robert Hooper, the Executive Director of Northern Nevada Development Authority.
The amount of business from Poland is only expected to increase in the coming years.Â
John Petkus, the Consulate of the Republic of Poland in Las Vegas said, "We're hoping to have a large cluster of polish companies here in Northern Nevada and over the next five years, we're shooting between 50 to 75 companies."
Industries such as manufacturing, information technology, drone technology, and distribution.Â
"We'll be putting together import, export programs. We'll be looking how companies can expand to the U.S. market and use the Sierra region as their landscape and the same thing for our companies who want to go to Europe," said Hooper.Â
Sandoval added, "These are individuals that are going to come here, employ graduates from the University of Nevada. They're going to have the opportunity to get a high tech career and they're only going to do nothing but grow."
The Northern Nevada Development Authority says several businesses have already expressed interest in working with Poland in the future.Â
