NEWS ADVISORY Feb. 13, 2026 For immediate release Mayor to Lead Delegation to Sister City of Palmerston North, New Zealand Missoula
Mayor Andrea Davis will lead a Missoula delegation to our Sister City of Palmerston North, New Zealand, on Saturday, Feb. 14. The trip is fully funded by a U.S. Embassy grant secured by the leadership of Palmerston North. Its purpose is to learn, share and elevate connections and relationships with government and business leaders, economic development organizations, tourism initiative leaders and the Maori Tribe. “This is an amazing opportunity to deepen our relationships with our long-standing Sister City of Palmerston North,” Davis said. “We work on common issues affecting our communities, and we’ll have the opportunity to share solutions: cost of living, economic opportunities, housing, climate and extreme weather impacts, indigenous governance and sovereignty, tourism, arts and cultural planning. We can learn from each other.”
The delegation will include Downtown Missoula Partnership Executive Director Linda McCarthy; Destination Missoula Director Barb Neilan; Arts Missoula Executive Director Heather Adams; and Michelle Guzman, Director of American Indian Student Services at the University of Montana.
The visit is funded by a diplomacy grant from the United States Embassy in Wellington, New Zealand. Diplomacy and democracy go hand-in-hand, Davis said, and they are as important as they ever have been today. Deena Mansour, Executive Director of the Maureen and Mike Mansfield Center, applauded the outreach. “By engaging New Zealand,” Mansour said, “Missoula advances the Mansfield commitment to partnering with fellow democracies grounded in shared values while strengthening opportunities for our citizens in global education, leadership and trade within the increasingly important region of the Indo-Pacific.”
Mayor Davis met recently with Willie Brown, who moved to Missoula from Palmerston North 17 years ago and works as a Missoula County Sheriff’s Deputy. “As someone who is from Palmerston North and who has lived in Missoula for 17 years, I have been involved in numerous exchanges between our cities and regions,” Brown said. “This Sister City partnership is extremely important, strategic and beneficial to both cities, our people and our nations as a whole. Through these relationships and interactions, representatives from Palmerston North have taken ideas and initiatives from Missoula and implemented them in our city in New Zealand, and vice versa.”
Missoula and Palmerston North (also known as Palmy) have been Sister Cities for 44 years. The formal relationship began in 1981 and came about from faculty and student learning exchanges between the University of Montana and Massey University. The two communities are quite similar in a variety of ways, as both have a well-renowned university, rivers that run through them, city-center town squares and high demand for housing.
The itinerary of meetings, site visits, tours and events will include: • A visit to Massey University and its world-renowned Veterinary Science program • A full afternoon with the Central Economic Development Agency to learn about regional tourism, the Manawatu Food Strategy, and a tour of the Te Utanganui Central New Zealand Distribution Hub • Meetings with Palmy Mayor Grant Smith and City Council Members • Meetings with the Manawatu Business Chamber and Palmy Business Improvement District • A formal Māori Welcoming Ceremony at Te Rangimarie Marae in Rangiotu • Discussions on Cultural and Community Planning • Tours of the Universal College of Learning, Te Manawa Museum of Art, Science & Heritage, the New Zealand Rugby Museum, the Palmerston North City Library, and the Caccia Birch House • An official visit to the U.S. Embassy in Wellington, a tour of the Parliament’s Beehive, the Executive Wing of the New Zealand Parliament, and Te Papa Museum • Participation in the two-day Festival of Cultures • A formal unveiling of the recently renovated Missoula Reserve, in honor of the Sister City relationship.
There have been many formal visits between the two cities over the last four decades. Palmerston North officials visited Missoula in 2018 and 2022. The official visit will run Feb. 14 through Feb. 23.
Mayor Davis will take some extra exploratory time and return to the office on March 3. Mayor Davis and the delegation will be available for interviews upon their return.
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