By Aleasha Sandley, Herald Bulletin Staff Writer
ANDERSON — Alternative energy companies were at the top of local economic development representatives’ lists when they took a two-week-long trip to China and Korea to build relationships with businesses there.
Anderson Economic Development Director Linda Dawson and Board of Works Chairman Greg Graham joined Anderson/Madison County Corporation for Economic Development Director Rob Sparks on the trip, in which they came in contact with nearly 80 companies that could eventually build in the Midwest.
Dawson said 80 percent of the companies the group called on were involved in alternative energy, including batteries, hybrid electric vehicles and solar and wind power. The other 20 percent, she said, were companies that had expressed interest in the United States for their distribution and manufacturing facilities.
The group also visited with investment firms in Beijing, as well as consulting firms and an attorney to try to bridge cultural and financial gaps between business in China and in the United States, Graham said.
“We want to start a global advisory group...that can assist us and assist the companies that are wanting to come here,” Dawson said.
To that end, the officials also made a stop at the U.S. embassy in China to try and find out how they could ease the process by which Chinese business people receive visas to visit sites in Anderson.
Finally, Graham signed a document recognizing Anderson’s sister-city relationship with the Yuhang District in the Chinese city of Hangzhou. Yuhang’s district head also signed the document.
The trip, Dawson said, was productive and busy.
“These aren’t junkets,” she said. “They’re really grueling. Prior to us going on these trips, we try to establish some rapport with these companies.”
While many Asian companies locate their U.S. operations on the West Coast because of proximity and a larger population of people of Asian descent, they are becoming interested in the Midwest because of its low cost of living and location in the middle of the country for quick shipping. The alternative energy companies are particularly interested in Anderson, Dawson said, because of its automotive history.
“That’s where the future is,” she said. “That’s where Anderson’s forte is. Our labor force is abundant with electrical engineers. Our work force talks the same language that these alternative energy companies do.”
Sparks spent much of his time in Asia selling not only Anderson, but Madison County and the east central Indiana region.
“Everything we sell is regional,” he said. “It’s kind of getting people across the world to know where we’re at. You do a lot of door-knocking before you get somebody to answer.”
That’s why both the city Economic Development Department and CED will continue focusing on Asia for future trips. The most recent trip cost about $8,000 per person — with more than a third of the cost coming from CED — but the cost is necessary to continue local economic development representatives’ focus on Asia, specifically Korea and China.
“We’re really starting to understand where we’re going to focus our efforts and our energies,” Sparks said. “I think it really is becoming clear this trip. There is value in building relationships.”
Discontinuing trips to China and Korea would be detrimental to efforts to build relationships with companies there, Dawson said.
“They know you’re serious and you’re going to help them through the process of locating here,” she said. “There’s a different set of criteria that Asian companies use, and a major one is relationships. With American companies, it focuses strictly on the bottom dollar.”
Mayor Kris Ockomon is dedicated to the city’s global attraction program, Dawson said, although economic development officials might have to review and more clearly define its goals for future trips because of a city budget crisis.
“You can’t create jobs without marketing your city,” she said. “We feel like we have to get the biggest bang for our money.”
Sparks said both CED and the city likely will spend the same amount of money next year as they did this year for economic development travels.
“Our hope is the use of our time and the use of the funds are going to pay dividends in our community,” he said.
Contact Aleasha Sandley: 640-4805, aleasha.sandley@heraldbulletin.com.
