FRENCH LICK — Indiana has the largest amount of Japanese investment per capita in the United States, and is the only state that is home to three Japanese automotive assembly plants: Toyota in Princeton, Subaru in Lafayette and Honda in Greensburg.
While portions of southern Indiana have not experienced the same level of Japanese investment as some other areas of the state, the activity in the area is beginning to take an upturn, according to Jeff Quyle, president and CEO of Radius Indiana.
Radius Indiana is a regional economic development partnership representing eight counties in southern Indiana: Crawford, Daviess, Dubois, Greene, Lawrence, Martin, Orange and Washington.
On Monday, the group hosted “A Radius-Japan Dialogue” at the French Lick Resort to introduce members from the Office of the Consulate-General of Japan and Japan External Trade Organization Chicago to the region.
“It is so rare for one single state in the U.S. to have three Japanese governors visit in a single year,” said Naoki Ito, who has served as the consulate-general of Japan since February 2017. “Indiana is really special to Japan. Your strong leadership has strengthened the economic relationship with Japan.”
There are more than 290 Japanese-based companies in Indiana, employing about 65,000 Hoosiers.
Quyle and Becky Skillman, chairwoman of the Radius board, along with nearly 60 people including local economic development professionals, business leaders and local and state elected officials, welcomed Ito and Japan External Trade Organization Chief Executive Director Ralph Inforzato to southern Indiana. The event was a first for the region, and was designed for Radius stakeholders to learn more about the Indiana-Japan relationship as well as explore collaboration opportunities.
The group also attended the ribboncutting of M&C Tech in Washington, which has invested $4.6 million into a 40,000-square-foot building and added 35 new jobs. It’s the first investment by a Japanese company in the eight-county Radius region.
“You have a very strong workforce with a very strong work ethic,” Ito told those attending the seminar Monday. “Japanese leadership is now putting a shining light on the Midwest of the United States of America.”
Japanese officials, Ito said, are beginning to reach out to rural areas, and Radius plans to take its first international economic development trip to Japan in November.
“We hope that this event is an important first step in building a long-lasting partnership for the region with our friends in Japan. We are excited to show Mr. Ito and Mr. Inforzato all that our region has to offer, and to demonstrate the tremendous interest and support for our community leaders in strengthening a relationship with Japan as we prepare for our visit this fall,” Quyle said in a news release.
Ito said that in 2017, Japanese investments were directly responsible for 860,000 jobs in the U.S. and indirectly responsible for 1.5 million jobs. He attributes $421.1 billion in direct investments to Japanese firms.
“We hope to increase the number of Indiana companies that will make an investment in Japan in the near future,” said Ito, who went on to explain that Japan’s population is projected to decline as the number of aging workers outpaces the younger employees. “We want to build on international opportunities. ... We hope to become even more dynamic in the future.”
During the event, guests heard from Ito and Inforzato on best practices for interacting with Japanese firms, and insights on what Japanese investors are looking for when searching for a location to expand.