Senator Rollie Heath Works to Improve Colorado/Czech Republic Trade Relationship

Monday, July 16 2012

BOULDER- Today, Senator Rollie Heath (D-Boulder), is working to improve the economic trade relationship between Colorado and the Czech Republic. Senator Heath will be honoring the opening of Colorado’s first Honorary Consul office for the Czech Republic in Boulder. Heath’s international business experience made him an obvious choice to help usher in the office, which will support economic relations, tourism and cultural exchange between citizens of the Czech Republic and Coloradans. Boulder attorney Robert Erben will serve as the Honorary Consul of the Czech Republic for the State of Colorado. As a senator, Heath also met with and spoke to a trade delegation from Katowice, Poland in 2009, and he is looking forward to building additional international ties with the Czech Republic.

“I am extremely excited to meet with the Ambassador and Consul General, and honored to be a part of this momentous occasion,” said Heath today. “It’s an opportunity for us to grow together as economic partners, which can only be good for both the Czech Republic and Colorado.”

Petr Gandalovic, Czech Ambassador to the United States, and Consul General Michal Sedlacek will visit Boulder and Denver for trade meetings on July 16 and 17. Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper and U.S. Congressman Jared Polis will be participating as well.

Senator Heath’s experience in international relations began by serving four years in Germany with the U.S. Army in the mid-1960s. He then went on to a successful career in international business, having held a number of executive positions with the multinational Johns Manville Corporation. He earned the Colorado Governor’s Award for Excellence in Exporting in 1997, founded and chaired what is now the Denver World Trade Center, and was a key member of the team that helped bring Denver International Airport to Colorado.