| Indiana ag director embarks on a Japanese trade mission |
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| By MEGGIE I. FOSTER
Assistant Editor
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — On a flight bound for Tokyo, the business capital of the world, Indiana Agriculture Director Andy Miller recently joined Gov. Mitch Daniels for a trade mission designed specifically to bring new business and investment home to the Heartland.
Daniels and his Hoosier contingent of nearly 70 business and community leaders from across the state departed for Japan Sept. 7 and will return from the mission on Sept. 14.
Four members of the delegation represent Indiana’s growing agriculture industry – Miller, Deputy Director Beth Bechdol, Pork Producer Mike Beard and President of Tom Farms Kip Tom, who also serves as the agriculture representative on the Indiana Economic Development Corporation Board of Directors.
“This is the third year agriculture has participated in the Governor’s trade missions and during the last two we’ve really focused on ‘selling’ Indiana to potential global partners and bringing back investment and jobs to our state,” said Miller.
Invest in Indiana
After an exhausting 12-hour flight, Miller and the agriculture contingent kicked off the festivities with the “Invest in Indiana Agriculture Summit,” inviting leaders representing a broad spectrum of the Japanese agriculture industry including the livestock, biofuels and grain sectors.
“First the Governor will address the group and we will follow that up with some one-on-ones,” explained Miller. “The goal in mind here is to help them see why this would be such a great place to bring back investment.”
The agriculture director also hinted about an exciting lead with a Japanese grain handling company that has previously expressed interest in expanding business operations in Indiana. Miller said he hopes to build on the growing relationship with this company and hopefully make it clear why Indiana is the ideal locale to invest in.
“We want to help folks abroad realize all that Indiana has to offer and this trade mission is one way that we can do that,” he said. “In Indiana we should be open to finding new investment wherever it is.”
Additionally, Miller and the agriculture delegation will meet with 10-12 individual companies throughout the week.
“Our goal is to identify companies that we will want to talk with further,” he said. “Our biggest goal is to establish good foundations, establish leads and relationships, where we can hopefully bring some jobs back to Indiana in the future.”
Meeting of the Midwest and Japan
The agriculture delegates, including Miller, will also attend the 39th annual Joint Meeting of the Midwest U.S.-Japan Assoc. and the Japan-Midwest U.S. Assoc. in Tokyo, Sept. 9-11. Gov. Daniels, one of several Midwestern governors invited to the conference, is scheduled to address the attendees on Sept. 11.
Last year, the meeting was hosted in Indianapolis. The Association, which showcases the Midwest’s business environment and works to inform Japanese companies about investment in Midwest communities, will serve as a catalyst to an exciting trade mission in Japan, according to the governor.
“As we’ve renewed relationships and established new ones in Japan, we’ve had success insourcing jobs and investment to Indiana and that has helped drive our economic comeback,” remarked Gov. Daniels.
Following trips to Japan and Taiwan in 2005 and to Japan and South Korea in 2006, Indiana became home to a new Toyota plant in Lafayette, Ind. that employs 1,000 people and Honda is also currently building a facility in Greensburg, Ind. that will employ 2,000 people beginning in 2008.
For Indiana agriculture, past trade missions have equated the same amount of economic growth and success.
In 2006, during the Japan/South Korea trade and investment mission, Governor Daniels, Director Miller and executives of Mitsubishi Corporation, co-owner of Indiana Packers Corp., a pork processing company in northern Indiana, announced an expansion of their Delphi, Ind. facility, which included adding over 125 new jobs to the local area.
Miller, best known as an innovative thinker in agriculture, sees a tremendous benefit to taking the Indiana agriculture story on the road and spreading the word abroad about why the state “is not only a great place to live, but a great place to invest in.”
“Indiana agriculture, American agriculture can only be successful with a presence in the international marketplace,” Miller admitted. “We know it works and you can point to specific successes to prove that,” he said, touting the importance of trade to Indiana agriculture’s economic revitalization.
“Clearly we believe the Japanese market is looking to expand, its one of the largest exporters of consumer products in the world,” Miller said. “Trade is a two-way street, so let’s stay active and keep Indiana in this game,” he added.
For more information or to follow Miller and the agriculture crew on the seven-day mission to Japan, visit the Indiana State Department of Agriculture trade mission blog at www.in.gov/isda
This farm news was published in the Sept. 12, 2007 issue of Farm World, serving Indiana, Ohio, Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan and Tennessee. |
| 9/12/2007 |
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