CLAYTON — ºüÀêÊÓƵ County Executive Sam Page and ºüÀêÊÓƵ Mayor Tishaura O. Jones embarked on a trade mission to Montreal last month to mark the addition of a new direct flight to the Canadian city, but it didn’t cost taxpayers any money.
On the contrary, the ºüÀêÊÓƵ County agency that promotes international trade actually ended up profiting by about $8,750. Attendee registration fees outweighed the cost of flights, hotels, dining and entertainment for six officials, including Page and Jones.
“We do our best to forecast expenses for trade missions, but many factors go into this,†said Andy Teague, a spokesman for the ºüÀêÊÓƵ Economic Development Partnership, the county’s economic development arm. “Our registration fees exceeded our expenses on this trade mission.â€
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ºüÀêÊÓƵ County uses taxpayer money to fund the partnership. And the partnership funds the ºüÀêÊÓƵ chapter of the World Trade Center Association, which organizes trade missions. But the center’s policy is to not use taxpayer money for those missions, which aim to strengthen international ties.
The World Trade Center used registration fees from 20 paying attendees to cover costs for Page, Jones and four other officials to go to Montreal: World Trade Center executive director Tim Nowak, deputy director Stella Coen-Sheehan, partnership executive director Rodney Crim and ºüÀêÊÓƵ Mosaic Project assistant director Suzanne Sierra.
The group departed from ºüÀêÊÓƵ Lambert International Airport on Air Canada’s inaugural direct flight to Montreal on Thursday, May 2. Air Canada provided free airfare for Page and Jones, and round-trip fare cost $744 each for the other officials, according to receipts obtained through an open records request.
From the Montreal airport, they made their way to their hotel: the InterContinental Montreal in the city center, where they held a news conference and a champagne reception with Montreal officials.
The World Trade Center paid for three nights at the hotel at nightly rate of $270 per room, for a total of about $4,800 for the six ºüÀêÊÓƵ officials. Bus transportation for the delegation cost $6,000.
The group participated in a networking breakfast on Friday, May 3, at the hotel, and then a roundtable lunch at the Crew Collective & Café, a nearby coworking space.
Dinner that night cost $4,500 for the 30-member delegation and guests at the fine dining restaurant L’Auberge Saint-Gabriel — including blinis and smoked duck for hors d’oeuvres, beef filets and halibut for main courses, chocolate pastries for dessert, and an open bar.
On Saturday, May 4, the 30-person group went to an immersive light show at Notre-Dame Basilica of Montreal costing $660. A tour of the city’s historic quarter cost $1,570. Lunch at a Mexican restaurant that day cost $130.
The next day, a group of 25 headed to Ottawa, about 120 miles west of Montreal, to meet officials there. They had lunch at a pub in Ottawa for $785, and that night stayed at the Lord Elgin Hotel downtown. For the six officials, it cost about $1,220 for the overnight stay.
On Monday, May 6, officials headed back to Montreal to take the direct flight to ºüÀêÊÓƵ, landing a little after 9 p.m.
Including other costs for event space rentals, printed materials, plus a $50 replica of the Gateway Arch given to the U.S. Ambassador to Ottawa, the trip cost the ºüÀêÊÓƵ World Trade Center $37,500.
But the center brought in $46,250 in attendance fees, generating the $8,750 surplus. Those funds go back into the center, said Teague, the center spokesman.
Last June, Page and ºüÀêÊÓƵ business officials went on a trade mission to London. That trip ended up costing the World Trade Center about $31,200, which was paid for with non-taxpayer revenue, officials said.