Knox County officials Chris Pfaff, CEO of Knox County Indiana Economic Development, and Joe Yochum, Mayor of Vincennes, attend the Midwest US–Japan Conference, with stops in Tokyo Osaka and Nagoya.
Provided photo
VINCENNES—“Excellent and productive face-to-face meetings for current and future engagements in the Knox County region” were a strategic highlight of the recently completed Indiana trade mission to Japan, said Chris Pfaff, CEO of Knox County Indiana Economic Development, in a recent press release about the trip.
Pfaff and Vincennes Mayor Joe Yochum returned from Japan in mid-September after joining the mayors of Columbus, Greensburg, Seymour and Wabash, and other Indiana economic development and trade professionals, with stops in Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya.
Pfaff said that a key message during the trip to Japanese leaders was, “Knox County is open for business and ready to be a trusted global partner.”
The press release said the trip included taking part in the Midwest US–Japan Conference, which focused on economic growth and innovation, and participating in two “Friends of Indiana” receptions with leading Japanese business executives and the Indiana contingent.
In 2026, Indiana will serve as host for the Midwest US–Japan Conference, which will serve as an “extremely important and strategic opportunity for Indiana economic growth and stability,” according to Pfaff in the press release.
With local operations of automotive parts manufacturer Futaba Indiana of America and automotive plastic molded parts manufacturer Excell USA, Yochum and Pfaff met directly with senior executives of the two businesses to discuss the local Knox County operations and potential future growth.
“We had good meetings with both Futaba and Excell,” Pfaff said in the press release. “The face-to-face contact is important on a variety of levels, which heightened the positive impact of the trade mission for Knox County.”
On Sept. 9, the full group took part in a Friends of Indiana reception in Tokyo with Japanese business and national leadership, which was supported by the IDEC and the Japan-America Society of Indiana. The gathering included a video greeting from Indiana Gov. Mike Braun, and the attending mayors were then introduced.
On Sept. 11, a second Indiana reception with elected officials and Japanese business executives took place in Nagoya, focused on the strategic value of engaging with Indiana.
By taking part, Pfaff and Yochum were able to “heighten awareness of Knox County’s advantages of central location reaching the American population, a strong workforce, our pro-business environment, and our new market-rate housing developments.”
Stats in the press release shared that, according to the Consulate-General Office of Japan in Chicago, more than 300 Japanese-related companies operate today in Indiana, employing nearly 70,000 Hoosiers.
According to the press release, Yochum and Pfaff previously took part in a Japanese trade mission in 2023.
Organizations supporting the Indiana trade mission and receptions included Hoosier Energy, Indy Partnership, Northeast Indiana Regional Partnership, Purdue Research Foundation, South Central Economic Development Group, Duke Energy, Japan-America Society of Indiana and the Indiana Economic Development Corporation.
AloJapan.com