Sister Cities council reviews delegations, youth programs and pitches film hub ideas to Economic Development Committee

The Tacoma Sister Cities Council gave the Economic Development Committee a year‑in‑review on Feb. 11, summarizing international delegations, youth education programs, cultural exchanges and recent partnerships while urging the city to consider stronger support for sister‑city assets and to explore a local film commission.

Debbie Bingham, Business and Economic Development Program Manager, said Tacoma has maintained sister‑city relationships since 1956 under a national program that pairs cities to build person‑to‑person ties. Claire Petrich, chair of the local Sister Cities nonprofit, described activities over the past year and asked the committee to consider ways the city can support their work, particularly given a recent reduction in direct city funding.

Petrich said the council currently has several active committees—Fuzhou (China), Kitakyushu (Japan), Split (Croatia), and others—that run education and cultural exchanges, artist residencies and humanitarian efforts such as ambulance shipments to Ukraine. The council highlighted a youth‑education program at Fawcett Elementary in which volunteers from multiple sister‑city committees deliver classroom lessons; Sister Cities said that program recently won an “innovative program” award from Sister Cities International.

Speakers asked the city to help with (1) visibility for sister‑city programming and the city assets donated by partners (for example traditional structures and artwork at parks), (2) funding or partnerships through tourism/promotion channels, and (3) coordination with Metro Parks on maintenance and repair of donated assets. The council reported that Tacoma Creates has provided some program funding, but the prior multi‑year city funding commitment has ended.

The council also proposed exploring a film commission or other formal support to develop Tacoma as a film production hub. Sayed, a local consultant on international education and cultural exchange, described recent outreach with Kochi, India, and said film production could benefit local small businesses and related industries. Petrich asked the committee whether staff had considered a film commission to support marketing, permitting and outreach for productions seeking Tacoma locations.

Council members expressed interest and asked the Sister Cities Council to share examples and materials. Committee staff said they will collect the materials promised by Sister Cities and coordinate follow‑up; organizers offered to provide film‑commission models and community workforce agreements used elsewhere. The Sister Cities Council requested increased visibility, clearer interdepartmental coordination and potential funding pathways to sustain volunteer work and international programming.

No formal actions or budget decisions were taken at the Feb. 11 presentation.