Governor Lincoln D. Chafee will travel to Washington, D.C. Saturday for the National Governors Association’s (NGA) Winter Meeting.
The annual event, which is attended by Governors from the U.S. states, commonwealths, and territories, will take place Saturday, February 26 through Monday, February 28, and includes sessions with President Obama, members of his Cabinet, Congressional leaders, academic leaders, business executives and other experts for discussions about a variety of issues and challenges facing states.
Saturday's opening plenary session will focus on Governor Chafee’s top priority: job creation. The session, "Growing a Competitive State Economy," will feature a discussion with Dr. Michael E. Porter of the Harvard Business School. Dr. Porter is a leading authority on competitive strategy and the competitiveness and economic development of nations, states and regions. He will provide an overview of the key elements needed to grow a state's economy, recommendations that are based on decades of research.
The session will conclude with remarks from Zhou Qiang, the party secretary of the Hunan Provincial Committee. Secretary Zhou is leading a delegation of Chinese officials interested in establishing a subnational dialogue with NGA.
Saturday and Sunday will be largely dedicated to various committee meetings, conferences, panels, and discussions.
Sunday night, Governors and their spouses will travel to the White House for a black-tie evening with President and Mrs. Obama. The following day, Governors will return to the White House for meetings with the President and members of his Cabinet regarding many of the critical issues topping the legislative agenda during the current Congress.
The Winter Meeting will conclude Monday afternoon, February 28, with a plenary session focused on "Preparing to Succeed in a Global Economy" with speaker Bill Gates, co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
Governor Chafee will return to Rhode Island Monday evening.