May 2, 2006
Going Anywhere, Doing Anything to Bring Jobs to Michigan
LANSING – Governor Jennifer M. Granholm will take her third overseas investment mission later this month when she visits Japan May 15 through 18. The Governor’s investment mission to Japan is part of her effort to go anywhere, do anything to bring jobs to Michigan. Over a two-week period, Michigan officials will be meeting with representatives from approximately 70 companies considering investment in Michigan or that are ripe for international investment.
“Our goal is always to bring investment and jobs to Michigan, and so the message to Japanese companies is this: There is no better place on the planet to grow your business than right here in Michigan,” Granholm said. “In the past two years, German and Japanese companies have made commitments to invest millions of dollars and create hundreds of new jobs in Michigan. Our goal is to encourage their colleagues to do the same.”
While in Japan, Granholm will meet with 20 companies in the areas of chemicals, electronics, banking, and manufacturing.
Accompanying the Governor to Japan is a team of Michigan Economic Development Corporation officials, including CEO and President James C. Epolito. Epolito, who will be in Asia for two weeks, will join the Governor in Japan for meetings and then travel on to South Korea and China, where he will join representatives from the Michigan Global Partnership, a consortium of state and local development officials as well as private sector companies. Epolito’s two-week itinerary includes meetings with representatives of approximately 50 companies in addition to the 20 companies with whom the Governor will meet.
Granholm’s investment mission is just the latest example of the Governor’s commitment to go anywhere, do anything to bring jobs to Michigan. Already this year, the Governor has traveled to Massachusetts where she held a series of meetings to encourage East Coast job providers and investors to expand in Michigan, and to Chicago where she met with a number of the world’s leading bio-science companies considering locating or expanding in Michigan. The Governor also spoke with representatives from high-tech auto manufacturers during the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) conference in Detroit.
In 2004 and 2005, Granholm led investment missions to Germany and Japan respectively. Following her 2005 mission to Japan, a total of 10 companies stated their intentions to expand in Michigan, including DENSO and Tokai Rika, for a total investment of $116 million and 630 news jobs. Granholm’s 2004 investment mission to Germany resulted in eight companies investing approximately $30 million and creating more than 150 new Michigan jobs over the next several years, including Behr Industries, Eberspacher, and Bosch.
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