State Unveils Site to Court Foreign Business
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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowThe Indiana Economic Development Corp. has launched a multi-language website designed to attract international business. InvestIndiana.com provides information about the state's business climate and work force and highlights success stories of other international companies.
February 4, 2015
News Release
Indianapolis, Ind. — InvestIndiana.com, a multi-language website promoting foreign direct investment in Indiana, has launched as a resource for international businesses considering Indiana for investment and job creation.
“This website is a conversation starter,” said Victor Smith, Indiana Secretary of Commerce. “Indiana and international businesses both speak the same language, and that's a language of growth and opportunity. This website acts as an online resource, showing just how committed we are to helping international businesses meet their goals in Indiana, joining the hundreds of others currently dotting our state.”
The website is available in English, Italian, German, French, Chinese and Japanese, targeting private-sector leaders in countries currently experiencing business success in Indiana. Along with information about Indiana's business climate and workforce, the website highlights locations across the state where international companies have selected Indiana for their U.S. operations. It also includes facts about thriving Indiana industries and their key companies in the state, ranging from agribusiness to diesel engines.
Japanese-language digital and mobile advertisements are currently driving an average of 3,600 weekly users to the website, which launched last month. Running in Japan on websites including Bloomberg.co.jp and Yomiuri.co.jp, the advertisements feature the tagline “Indiana: A Precision Economy. Balanced. Efficient. Powerful.” and are Indiana's first foreign language advertisements serving a targeted market like Japan.
The website complements the state's international business development operations led by the Indiana Economic Development Corporation (IEDC). Its Indiana-based team includes business development professionals fluent in Japanese, Italian and German, each with long-term business experience abroad. The state also operates international offices in Japan, Germany and China.
“Indiana's story of business opportunity resonates whether you are in Indiana, Japan, Germany or anywhere else around the world,” said Smith. “Principles like fiscal responsibility and affordability are universal. And now that we've built it, we're busy telling the world.”
Last year Governor Mike Pence led four international jobs and economic development missions to Germany, the United Kingdom, Canada and Israel, meeting with company and government officials to celebrate cultural bonds and discuss the advantages of doing business in Indiana. The trips helped propel Indiana to secure deals with 38 international firms last year, which plan to invest $1.3 billion into the state and create more than 2,700 projected new jobs for Hoosiers in the coming years.
About IEDC
Created in 2005 to replace the former Department of Commerce, the Indiana Economic Development Corporation is governed by a 12-member board chaired by Governor Mike Pence. Victor Smith serves as the Indiana Secretary of Commerce and Eric Doden is the president of the IEDC.
The IEDC oversees programs enacted by the General Assembly including tax credits, workforce training grants and public infrastructure assistance. For more information about IEDC, visit www.iedc.in.gov.
Source: Indiana Economic Development Corp.