Two days of fact-finding by teams from the U.S. Department of Commerce's Economic Assistance Administration kick off on Monday, with Gloucester officials and private business people due to meet with the visitors.
The intense series of seminar meetings was ordered by Commerce Secretary Gary Locke under pressure from U.S. Sen. John Kerry after Locke largely declined to accept the findings in a state-commissioned study showing how a new fisheries regulatory format has brought economic harm to Gloucester and other fishing communities.
Mayor Carolyn Kirk on Friday issued the agenda for the suite of meetings, about half of which are open to the public. The closed meetings, the mayor said, are to allow for business and government to exchange proprietary information and discuss programs that are not ready for announcement.
Read the complete story from The Gloucester Times.