We’ve spent the entire day in Tokyo today calling upon our existing Lebanon businesses.
Elise presents Koji Morikawa of Subaru with a gift from Boone County.
Our first visit was with Subaru, a major driver (pun intended) of Boone County’s growth. Subaru of Indiana Automotive in Lafayette employs many Boone County residents, but we also benefit from Subaru of America’s distribution facility in Lebanon. What may not be as well known is that many of our existing Japanese businesses in Boone County are suppliers to Subaru as well. Needless to say, we’re grateful for their positive impact in our community!
Elise is speaking with Hiroaya Hayase of Kuraray.
After lunch we visited with Kuraray, parent company of MonoSol. We announced earlier this year MonoSol’s plans to build a new manufacturing facility in Lebanon. We’re excited to have landed this great company in Boone County, and spent much of our time today discussing workforce-related issues and ways the Boone EDC can continue to help MonoSol once they are fully operational in Lebanon.
Kuraray’s mascot is an alpaca.
We wrapped up our afternoon meetings with a visit to the U.S. Soybean Export Council, an informational meeting to learn about their work in Japan.
Some interesting tidbits for you — Indiana is the fourth largest soybean exporter (source), and Boone County is Indiana’s sixth largest soybean-producing county (source).
More to come — we’re off to Nagoya in the morning!