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Blog: Indiana’s Relationships are Winning Jobs
Indiana’s Relationships are Winning Jobs
September 27, 2011
“Indiana and Japan have enjoyed a strong and profitable relationship. Japan is Indiana’s largest Asian trade partner. We want to see that relationship grow even stronger. Today, Indiana has 230 Japanese – owned companies employing 42,000 of our people. This is a total investment of more than $9.8 billion.”
This was a brief excerpt from the remarks I delivered to the Midwest U.S. – Japan Conference today. I gave the closing remarks to the roughly 300 American and Japanese attendees. My aim was to reaffirm to the Japanese of our strong relationship, our support efforts after their devastating earthquake, and to make sure they knew Indiana had a business-friendly environment.
All in all, I would say the conference was a huge success. Yesterday, I told you that we heard from many governors from the U.S. and Japan. We also had a small meeting with the U.S. Ambassador to Japan. I attended an entertaining dinner full of friendship building, and finally I was honored to deliver, on behalf of Hoosiers, Indiana’s story of economic prosperity and our Midwest generosity to our Japanese friends.
After the conference was over, it was time to visit more companies that do business in Indiana. We started the afternoon blitz with a visit to Zen-Noh, which is an agricultural-based business. Their operations in Indiana are part of Consolidated Grain and Barge (CGB) in Mt. Vernon and Jeffersonville. CBG is responsible for transporting agriculture products such as corn and soybeans via barge from Indiana down the Mississippi River. Once it reaches the New Orleans port, it is then taken by boat to Japan.
Their group of executives wanted to reassure us that they plan to continue doing business with Indiana. The meeting held a positive atmosphere from start to finish. They feel a strong relationship with us and plan on doing more business with Indiana in the future.
After leaving Zen-Noh it was off to Mitsubishi. There we discussed our Indiana Packers operation in Delphi, which produces processes pork. The Mitsubishi execs were extremely honest and I appreciate that. As they attempt to expand their operations they expressed concern in the amount of time it has taken to purchase more land in Carroll County in an effort to grow their company. They are also dealing with a wastewater issue.
Finally, they asked for continued support from state government. Even though there were some small delays in their expansion efforts, they let me know they are extremely happy about doing business in Indiana and want to continue. I reassured them that I would personally check into their issues and see if we can’t find a solution promptly. Indiana packers are a major company for Indiana and we will be extremely supportive of their efforts.
Mitsubishi also has a stake in a small aluminum company that does business in Columbus. The company is called Nikkei, MC Aluminum, and they gave me a brief overview of their status in Indiana. The company makes aluminum alloy and while small they continue to thrive.
Finally, we made a stop at Itochu, a highly diversified trading company dealing in textiles, machinery, communications, and alternative energy. They actually have a partnership with Zen-Noh and their CGB operations in Indiana. The company president reassured us that everything was moving along just fine. It was positive to hear confidence from more of our employers. I was able to share with him Indiana’s story of economic stability and he seemed very pleased and confident in our business environment.
Tonight, I had a business dinner with the executive from Fuji Heavy Industries, which owns Subaru. They are a major jobs provider to the state. The dinner was extremely positive and we all connected from the beginning. Our efforts to build a stronger relationship have been very positive and I look forward to following up on that initiative for future expansion.
Tomorrow is our last day in Japan and we are heading to Nagoya to meet with our Toyota folks, so after another action packed day I must now get ready for tomorrow. I’ll leave you with my last statement from my closing remarks at the conference.
“It’s a great pleasure to visit Japan, see the sights, and start new friendships. We look forward to the opportunity to introduce you to Indiana and our Hoosier Hospitality.”
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