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When it comes to first impressions, Louise Blais left Savannah on Tuesday with a different take on the city than the one she arrived with three days earlier.
“This is my first visit, and I have to say Savannah is so much more than I expected,” said Blais, the recently appointed consul general of Canada, whose Atlanta office is responsible for six southern states, including Georgia.
In a whirlwind tour, Blais spent time with her hosts at World Trade Center Savannah, toured the Georgia Ports, met with Savannah Mayor Edna Jackson and other city officials, visited the Canadian firm DIRTT, was introduced to the Savannah College of Art and Design, talked to business leaders and vowed to “be back soon.”
“I knew, of course, the importance of trade between Canada and Georgia, but I had no idea how much a part of this Savannah has become,” she said. “The port was amazing. I had never seen anything like it. So much of the trade between our country and your state comes through this port.
“And SCAD is so much a part of the vibrancy of the city. Building after building of creativity combined with practicality. I understand that 90 percent of their students have jobs before they graduate.
“I asked if they had any collaboration with Canadian institutions. We are world leaders in animation, special effects, fashion,” she said. “They said they didn’t.
“Well, I’m hoping to change that.”
Another thing Blais hopes to improve is the ease with which business people are able to travel back and forth between Savannah and Canada.
“I’m going to look into bringing a Canadian airline — whether it’s Porter or WestJet — here,” she said. “We need that.”
After all, Canada is Georgia’s largest export market, Blais said, adding that Georgia sells more goods to Canada than to the state’s next two largest foreign markets combined.
Bilateral trade between Georgia and Canada totaled $10.4 billion in 2014, with Georgia exports to Canada slightly higher than Canadian exports to Georgia.
“To put that in perspective, my last posting was to France, which, as you can imagine, is a very strong trading partner,” Blais said. “Our bilateral trade with France is approximately $8 billion a year – more than $2 billion lower than our trade with Georgia alone.”
Some 330,000 Georgia jobs depend on trade and investment with Canada, a number she calls conservative.
Blais says she sees her role as “putting people together” for their mutual benefit.
“When Canadian businesspeople think of trade with the United States, they tend to think about areas closer to home – New York, Chicago,” she said.
“My job for the next four years is to make sure they know how much untapped potential there is for doing business in the South,” she said, adding that she also wants to raise awareness of Canadian brands here.
“My first visit to Savannah has just whetted my appetite,” Blais said. “I have so much more to discover.”
