Japanese, Thai ambassadors tour McHenry County businesses

If McHenry County is to climb its way out of the ongoing recession, and the double-digit unemployment rate it has brought the region, it is going to take a global approach.

It's with that in mind that county business and political leaders descended on a Marengo factory Monday to meet with the ambassadors of Japan and Thailand.

In the area on a trip arranged by U.S. Rep. Don Manzullo, Japanese Ambassador Ichiro Fujisaki and Thai Ambassador Don Pramudwinai toured the Nissan Forklift plant in Marengo and afterward discussed how to expand business ties between their nations and northern Illinois.

"There's an abundance of space here, and it's a good location near Chicago and some other big cities," Fujisaki said. "There are opportunities here, and if I have the occasion to (meet with Japanese business officials) I will tell them that."

Fujisaki's comments came after he and Pramudwinai spent about 30 minutes walking through the 356,000-square-foot Nissan factory, which opened in 1988 and now employs 275 workers who can produce up to 60 forklifts a day.

Manzullo, a Republican from Egan, called the facility "a merger of American talent with the best of Japanese and American ingenuity.

"We see the best of both worlds here," he added.

Pramudwinai said Thailand today is more likely to seek foreign investment than export jobs to places like the United States, but said he nonetheless came away impressed with that McHenry County has to offer.

"If we are stronger, we can begin looking outward," he said. "This is a place where there are people who can build a future business partnership with anyone back in Thailand."

Manzullo labeled Thailand's economy a "sleeping tiger" and said the United States' 177-year-old diplomatic relationship with the country puts it in a strong position to reap the rewards of its growing economy.

Among the local leaders who joined the ambassadors Monday where McHenry County Board Chairman Ken Koehler and State Rep. Jack Franks.

"The world is flat and we have to look at all sources of investment," said Franks, a Marengo resident and a leader on the state House's International Trade and Commerce Committee. "I want anyone and everyone to invest in our county."