On Monday, state Republican Sen. Jeff Mullis of Chickamauga will leave on a two-week trade mission to Europe that will promote Georgia to companies from all over the European continent.

“In today’s economic times, it is crucial that we are aggressive in recruiting new industry to Georgia,” Mullis said Friday.

Mullis represents Senate District 53, which includes Walker, Chattooga and Dade counties and portions of Catoosa County.

Mullis also serves as director of the Northwest Joint Development Authority whose mission is to bring new industry, along with the potential for job creation, particularly to the Northwest Georgia counties of Catoosa, Walker, Chattooga and Dade.

The first stint of the economic tour will team Mullis with Georgia Economic Development commissioner Ken Stewart, along with other economic leaders from across the state for talks with potential suppliers of Volkswagen.

Volkswagen has broken ground on a new $1 billion automotive assembly plant to be located in Chattanooga and completed by 2011. German suppliers are currently looking for suitable locations to build supply plants to serve the Chattanooga automotive plant.

“This meeting will again put Georgia in front of the Germans,” Mullis said. “We can only hope that our state with its vast resources will appeal to them.”

The meeting will be conducted in Hamburg, Germany.

On Friday, other members representing the Northwest Georgia Joint Development Authority will join Mullis in Brussels, Belgium, for the European Trade Convention.

“This will serve as an opportunity for us to market Northwest Georgia to additional European manufacturers looking to locate within the U.S.,” Mullis said.

The trade convention is said to draw manufacturers from all over the European Union.

“In these tough economic times, the people of Georgia need to know that we are doing all we can to recruit new industry to our state with the hopes of creating quality jobs that will sustain the longevity of our economy for years to come,” Mullis said.

WCM