On January 26, Ambassador Suzan LeVine welcomed Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper, his delegation and Swiss representatives of the business and academic communities to her residence in Bern. Governor Hickenlooper was in Switzerland leading a large business delegation. Focusing on workforce development and the “Swiss Model” of apprenticeships, the delegation explored innovative approaches to work-based learning that would benefit the Colorado economy. As part of that effort, the Governor has created the Colorado BEL Commission to focus on workforce development. Swiss companies including Novartis (Sandoz), Mikron, and Pilatus, in conjunction with Colorado-based, Intertech Plastics, are part of the BEL Commission. All four companies have significant production sites in the Denver area. While in Switzerland, Governor Hickenlooper and his delegation also visited the RUAG Space Emmen plant. CEO Peter Guggenbach and CEO RUAG Group Urs Breitmeier welcomed Ambassador LeVine and Governor Hickenlooper and explained RUAG Space technology. The final assembly of payload fairings for the European launch vehicle Ariane 5 and the American Atlas V-500 takes place at the Emmen site.
Read more: Colorado delegation gets first hand look at Swiss vocational model (an article by Tim Heaton)
