Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear announced this month that he will head an economic mission to Japan and South Korea next week hoping that he can convince business leaders in those countries as well as interested investors to expand and set up operations in his home state.
According to a statement from the governor’s office, the trip comes towards the end of a record-breaking first term, during which the state secured the highest private sector investment figure in its history. Since taking office in 2109, Beshear has announced 88 projects by Asia-based companies, representing nearly $13 billion in investments and 13,000 new jobs, said the governor’s office.
“There is no better place to do business in the United States than right here in Kentucky and this visit will allow us to share that message directly with business leaders in Japan and Korea. We look forward to meeting with existing employers and developing new relationships that will bring good jobs to the commonwealth,” Beshear said.
To date, Kentucky has nearly 540 foreign-owned operations that employ more than 117,000 people. The state is home to 200 Japanese-owned facilities that employ 47,000 people and seven Korean-owned businesses that employ 1,200 people.
The governor will be joined by his spouse, Britainy Beshear, Cabinet for Economic Development Secretary Jeff Noel, Transportation Cabinet Secretary Jim Gray and other executive officials, whose mission as Team Kentucky is to attract more investment and jobs to the state.
Since the beginning of his administration, Beshear has announced around 1,000 private-sector new-location and expansion projects totaling nearly $32 billion in announced investments and creating more than 54,700 jobs.
