President Obama Recognizes Ohio’s Foreign Direct Investment

The state of Ohio received some well-deserved recognition during the 2016 SelectUSA Investment Summit held June 19 – 21 in Washington, D.C. Several media outlets as well as President Obama commented on Ohio’s success in attracting foreign companies.

In his keynote address, President Obama talked about the role of SelectUSA in connecting American markets with foreign investors, using Ohio’s experience with Sofidel as an example.

“At last year’s summit, an Italian tissue company started a conversation with folks from central Ohio, and next month they’re breaking ground in the town of Circleville on a manufacturing facility that will create hundreds of jobs in a part of the American Midwest that needs them. It will be the largest private sector investment in Circleville in decades – and it started right here at SelectUSA,” President Obama said.

The president wasn’t the only one to commend Ohio’s foreign direct investment activities. Bloomberg News picked up a story that ran in the Dayton Daily News praising Ohio’s efforts and quoting representatives from JobsOhio.

China Daily, the only national English language newspaper in China, ran a story about Ohio’s growing business relationship with China.

National Public Radio did a live Facebook interview with Kristi Tanner, senior managing director at JobsOhio, giving Tanner the opportunity to highlight some of Ohio’s selling points.

“It’s always nice to have our efforts recognized in the media,” said Andrew Lange, JobOhio director of international sales. “And it’s especially rewarding to have the president of the United States call attention to a collaborative effort by many of our economic development teams in Ohio that will bring hundreds of jobs to our state.”