Burlington Reporter

Several representatives from the Burlington area recently returned from a trip to South Korea, where it was reported by the Times News that they visited 20 companies in four cities in hopes of generating new international business opportunities.

Burlington Economic Development Director Peter Bishop discussed the trip at a city council work session earlier this month, stating that the group had been "building a pathway" with South Korea for some time.

“There are three things that we have in spades here in Burlington," Bishop was quoted as saying in the Times News. We have life sciences companies — we have one of the biggest ones in the state—we have advanced manufacturing, and we still remain one of the last bastions of textile manufacturing in the United States. So we’ve got good prospects, just not long-term [international] relationships,"

North Carolina state Rep. Steve Ross (R-Burlington)

Bishop says the group spent the bulk of the trip building new relationships and opening up communications for future investments, and that one South Korean company has already scheduled a January trip to Burlington as a result of the visit. Presently, yarn manufacturer CS Carolina is the only South Korean company in Burlington, and Bishop says it has enjoyed great success since opening in the mid-2000s.

“Not to mention, we have had several other Korean companies that have been considering new foreign-directed investments or new investment in the United States and have visited CS Carolina," Bishop said in the Times News report.

The group included North Carolina state Rep. Steve Ross (R-Burlington), as well as Katie Chung and Chun Chung of Burlington Sister Cities. One of the destinations was Gwacheon City, a sister city of Burlington.