Terre Haute building business relationships in Japan

So says Larry Ingraham, president of Carmel-based consulting firm Ingraham & Associates.

Steve Witt, president of the Terre Haute Economic Development Corp., refers to Ingraham as “Mr. Japan” and selected him as part of a three-member economic development group who visited Japan from April 5 to April 15.

Andy Hendricks, president of Distributors Terminal and executive board member of Terre Haute’s EDC, was the third member of the visit team.

This was Witt’s third trip to Japan, but his first sponsored solely by the Terre Haute EDC and not part of the Indiana EDC or an Indiana delegation.

“It was a very successful trip,” Witt said. “It was almost like going there for the first time, as we got to set our own agenda. It was very busy and was not a sightseeing trip.”

Such trips are key to future business investment, Ingraham said.

Indiana opened a state office in Japan in 1979, Ingraham said, under then Lt. Gov. Robert Orr, who felt an oversees office was key to encouraging Indiana exports and Japanese investment in the Hoosier state.

Ingraham in March 1983 became the second state director of Indiana’s East Asian office under the former Indiana Department of Commerce, where he remained through 1986. Ingraham said the first director had been working on a big project. It wasn’t long when Ingraham said he learned the scope of that project.

“In June 1983, Sony announced it was locating a CD (compact disc) plant in Terre Haute. Sony is such a famous company worldwide that when it chose Terre Haute, it helped put Indiana on the map,” with Japanese investment, Ingraham said.

Today, Indiana has 280 Japanese companies, with a total investment of more than $10 billion, employing 55,000 Hoosiers.

“We planted seeds on this trip, if you will,” Ingraham said of the Terre Haute delegation. “These trips should never be a one-shot deal. You have to go back and water those seeds and make sure they are growing in the right direction and they will bear wonderful fruit,” said Ingraham, who also served as a translator for the group.

As an example, Ingraham said the city of Columbus has 25 Japanese-based companies, the most of any city in Indiana. “They have made annual trips to Japan since 1979, and that shows the results,” Ingraham said.

While Sony continues to play an important role in Terre Haute’s economy, part of this trip was to foster Terre Haute/Vigo County’s relationship with Advics, parent company of Advics Manufacturing Indiana LLC.

That company produces automotive brakes and chassis in the Vigo County Industrial Park, employing nearly 640 workers.

“We wanted to tell them thank you for their business. I was last at Advics’ headquarters in 2011, so it had been several years,” Witt said. The group met with Satoshi Ogiso, president of Advics, as well as the company’s general manager of corporate planning.

Hendricks said simply saying thank you is important to keeping Terre Haute on the forefront of potential economic development.

“We as a community need to be proactive in soliciting business to our community. This is one step of the process. This is prospecting for business for the community. Indiana has very strong relationship with Japan,” Hendricks said.

“The sales cycle on this trip is very long, it is not transactional, where we walk away with something. It is about building relationships. We were able to do that with [Larry Ingraham], as he has such a strong network in Japan,” Hendricks said.

“There is no question, if we don’t continue, this [trip] will be for naught. This has to be consistent and is a process. It has to be thought out and planned,” said Hendricks, adding it was his first time to visit Japan.

Next, the Terre Haute trio met with officials of Tajimi, Terre Haute’s sister city since 1962.

There, they met with the city’s mayor and president of the city council. They saw the city’s ceramic industry, but also discovered Tajimi’s mayor “has been very successful in attracting new business,” Witt said, including a new Toyota service center, that trains services technicians. It has a test track and its own hotel, Witt said. Tajimi also has a new Amazon fulfillment center, Witt said.

Hendricks said he would like to see Vigo County continue a student exchange program with Tajimi, which has not occurred for several years. That helps keep communications open, he said.

The third component of the trip focused on future economic development prospects, where the trio visited with three major construction companies in Japan, which often have involvement with companies that build in the United States, Witt said. They also met with representatives of Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ Trust Co. in Nagoya, as well as with electronics and automotive companies.

“It is all about building relationships,” Witt said.

Jim Schellinger, Indiana’s secretary of commerce, happened to be in Tokyo and the trio had breakfast with him, Witt said.

Additionally, by coincidence, Witt said also while in Tokyo, it was the 100th year of the founding of the Japan-America Society. “We spent time with Theresa Kulczak, executive director of the Japan-America Society of Indiana, and due to Theresa and Larry’s efforts, we were able to attend the 100th anniversary gala,” Witt said, which about 500 people attended.

Japan’s prime minister, emperor and empress attended. “We got to sit on the fifth row in the front,” Witt said.

“We renewed friendships and made some good contracts for the future. We touted our community and our industrial sites to everyone we met with,” Witt said. “It think this was very successful for our community.”