BRIDGEPORT, W. Va. — Nearly 50 business leaders from Japan’s Chubu region visited West Virginia on Monday as part of an economic development tour.
The delegation, along with members of the Discover the Real West Virginia Foundation, the West Virginia Development Office, Governor Earl Ray Tomblin, Senator Joe Manchin and Senator Jay Rockefeller gathered at the Robert C. Byrd Aeronautic Education Office in Bridgeport to discuss the successful partnership the country and the state.
“The business relationship between Japan and West Virginia continues to play an exceptionally important role in our state’s economy,” Governor Tomblin said. “Japanese companies have invested more than 2.1 billion dollars in the Mountain State and currently employ more than 2,500 hard working West Virginians.”
A contributing factor in drawing businesses to the area is the West Virginia Department of Commerce’s International Office, which will have been located in the Chubu region for 25 years this upcoming year.
“Since the opening the West Virginia Department of Commerce’s International Office in Nagoya in 1990, we have attracted 20 Japanese companies from the Chubu region to West Virginia,” Senator Manchin said. “[These companies include] NGK Spark Plugs in Sissonville, Diamond Electric in Eleanor and Toyota Motor Manufacturing in Buffalo.”
Another organization leading the charge for the West Virginia economy overseas has been the Discover the Real West Virginia Foundation. Created from an idea by Senator Rockefeller in 1988 and formally established in 1993, the group’s mission is to diversify the state’s economy and make the Mountain State competitive on a global scale.
“He was the one that launched Discover the Real West Virginia over 20 years ago,” Manchin said. “The vision that he had that we could be more and be able to show the rest of the world who we are. The great work the organization has created so many critical business opportunities and jobs between West Virginia and the Chubu region.”
One of the main focuses of this trip was for the Japanese delegation to learn of investment opportunities within the state thanks to the development of the oil and gas industry. Representatives were on hand to ask about the process in the Utica and Marcellus Shales and later were able to tour an operation nearby.
Manchin said he hopes the emerging industry can become a new path for Japanese companies to find continued success.
“These numbers continue to increase as these companies continue to find success in West Virginia, which is so important,” he said. “I’m so proud that the people of Japan see West Virginia the same way that I do, as a great place to do business.”