by Carla Knapp
In his address at the Logansport-Cass County Economic Development Foundation luncheon on June 5, Kenji Shinoda, the consul general of Japan at Chicago, said the key to fostering good relationships in the foreign market is sending delegates to Japan.
Mayor Mike Fincher plans to follow that advice with a trip to Japan in September.
“In the consul general’s speech, he talked of patience, persistence and building relationships,” said Fincher. “Foreign investments in Indiana and the Midwest are continuing to expand, and if we expect to have a chance to get any of that, we have got to go and get it.”
Shinoda’s visit was his first to a city in Indiana other than Indianapolis, marking what Fincher and LEDF President Skip Kuker felt was a major milestone in Logansport attempts to capture foreign investments.
That moment was several years in the making.
Kuker said that the city began to implement a Japanese marketing plan in 2004, but the first sign of real progress was the visit made by the former consul general, Yutaka Yoshizawa, in early March 2006.
Fincher followed with a trip to Japan just a month later. Though the planning for that trip had been in place for a year at that point, the rapid succession between the visits helped as Fincher hoped to build a sense of familiarity between Logansport and the foreign investors it was courting.
Shinoda’s visit, though more than a year after Fincher’s first trip to Japan, showed the impact the city’s efforts have already had, Fincher said. The first-term mayor said he extended the invitation when he met Shinoda at a conference several months ago.
Fincher says he knows the city’s efforts have been well received because of a letter he received from Shinoda just last week.
“I was particularly impressed by your city’s strong interest in fostering new ties with Japan as well as the outpourting of support from your entire business community,” Shinoda wrote. “All of this is possible thanks to your leadership, for which I applaud you.”
One of the topics discussed during Shinoda’s visit was Fincher’s upcoming trip to Japan. Fincher will be attending the Midwest U.S.-Japan Association Conference in Tokyo as well as visiting several companies that invest in local businesses. The trip will last about 10 days, and in his letter, Shinoda said he was “most pleased” about Fincher’s plans for a second visit.
So far, though, there has been little growth from Japanese investments as a result of the marketing effort.
Tyson Foods and Logansport Matsumoto are two local businesses that have Japanese investors, but both were established before the visits. The Andersons Clymers Ethanol plant, which was dedicated on Saturday after beginning production in late April, is also supported by Japanese investments.
The mayor asked for patience, however, as he tries to grow these relationships.
“We can only travel as fast as we’re allowed to travel,” he said. “I would’ve loved to have gone over there in one trip and brought back a factory, but that was the first step of a thousand. To make this work, it’s going to take multiple trips to Japan, but once we have that commitment, it will really take off.”
Fincher and the LEDF used the city of Columbus as a model for their plan. The city in south central Indiana has been making annual trips to Japan since the 1970s. Columbus now has 18 Japanese firms — the most of any Indiana city.
Fincher and Kuker both say it is important for the public to acknowledge the time it took Columbus to grow the economy. Other city officials, however, feel there are other means of attracting business to Logansport.
Ted Franklin, a member of the Logansport City Council and the Republican candidate for mayor, said he supported efforts to build foreign relationships. He said it was equally important to continue looking for businesses and investors within the United States.
“Naturally, I’m in favor of building any world-wise relationships, but I would stress not to ignore our own backyard businesses in the United States,” he said. “If approached correctly and sincerely, they’re willing to look at Logansport.”
Franklin cited the work the council, of which Kuker is also a member, has done to lure Camshaft toward a deal with the city. The Michigan-based manufacturer is looking at a move that could bring 270 jobs to the area over the next three years. Franklin said the dozens of phone calls and the two trips to Michigan required to broker the deal had been far less costly than the Japanese visits.
While acknowledging that both initiatives are important, Fincher and Kuker both said that the city could benefit from the growing trend of foreign investment only if it took assertive action.
“It’s a global economy, and we have to know and be cognizant of the fact that there are foreign countries and people in those foreign countries with money to invest,” Kuker said, noting that he had been working through LEDF with clients from several foreign countries. “I have other foreign investors interested in Cass County, not just Japanese. ... Hopefully something will come of it. You never know, but you’re guaranteed nothing if you do nothing.”
Carla Knapp can be contacted at (574) 732-5150 or via e-mail at carla.knapp@pharostribune.com
