October, 2004

In a few hours, I’ll be on a Japan Airlines flight, heading over the North Pole to land at Narita Airport in Tokyo, Japan.  Two of us from Marion; Mike Wagner of the Ohio Corn Marketing Program and I, will be joining Governor Taft, Ohio Development Director Bruce Johnson and about 65 other Ohioans in a trade mission designed to encourage future investment by Japanese and Taiwan-based firms in Ohio as well as to find new markets in those countries for Ohio products.

There have been missions to the Far East in the past by Ohio governors and development representatives.  About 25 years ago, one of those helped convince Honda to put a motorcycle production line into some farmland northwest of Marysville.  Of course, the mushrooming impact of that mission is still being felt today, as Honda and its suppliers employ over 16,000 around the state—about a thousand of them from here in Marion County.  In part, our mission is to go to the home turf of Honda and U.S. Yachiyo and thank them for their investments here.  Their confidence in this area has been a significant boost to the local economy.  At least two other Marion companies have Japanese roots:  Sakamura USA and Todco Overhead Door, whose parent is Sanwa Shutter.

We’ll be looking at additional automotive suppliers, but current thinking is, those who might supply Honda are probably already here.  So, in addition to automotive, I’ll be on the lookout for companies in other business sectors that might have a desire to open a U.S. facility.  Like the U.S., Japanese companies are trying to figure out how to take advantage of a potentially huge Chinese market.  But that doesn’t mean the U.S. market is being ignored.  If a company is going to sell globally, it can’t afford to ignore the North American marketplace. 

Now that Marion has several attractive business parks developed—and the fact that we now have a stable track record of growth with Japanese companies, we can make a credible case for more Japanese investment here.

In addition to attendance at the Midwest-U.S. Japan Association meetings, we’ll be attending a reception for Japanese companies hosted by the State of Ohio.

Some of our group will then travel to Taipei, Taiwan for the final two days of the mission.  We plan to meet with numerous business contacts there, as well as attend a luncheon with Taiwan’s deputy foreign minister. 

To prepare for the mission, we’ve created marketing materials in English, Japanese and Mandarin Chinese.  A special thank you is due to Akiko Sato who interprets for the Japanese officials at U.S. Yachiyo.  Her help in translating our materials into Japanese was invaluable.  She is very talented and generous with her time.  Sherri Spitzer, Rick Marmon and the staff at USY have helped in many ways to prepare us for this trip.  In fact, they hosted WBNS TV, Channel 10 for a news story on the trip and how a community like Marion fits into the mission.  Publicity like that helps us showcase this community to a Central Ohio audience—some of whom are decision-makers charged with finding the right location for their projects.  We think Marion and Marion County are ripe for businesses looking for a place to grow that has all the advantages of a Central Ohio location, with lower costs and less hassle.

As with any venture, deciding to participate in a trip like this Asian trade mission isn’t a slam-dunk.  After airfare, hotels, ground transportation, meals, etc. the cost will run into several thousands of dollars.  But, the payoff, we hope, will be several millions of dollars of new investment and new jobs for Marion area residents.  As the old saying goes, you can’t catch any fish if you don’t dip your line in the water.  With attractive sites now available and a track record of success with foreign companies, we think we have something to sell in Asia. 

After the jet lag has worn off, I’ll report back on how things went.