LONDON – Governor Mike Pence closed his third international jobs and economic development mission today by meeting in London with executives from a high-tech firm considering Indiana for its U.S. operations after earlier in the week attending the Farnborough International Airshow (FIA).
“Today’s meeting caps off our jobs mission here in the UK, ending this successful trip with another encouraging meeting,” said Pence. “When telling Indiana’s story, companies around the corner and across oceans are looking for the same thing: a business climate that is built for growth. We have that here in Indiana, and the world is noticing.”
Last night the Governor and First Lady attended a reception and dinner hosted by the chairman and directors of Rolls-Royce at St. James’s Palace in London, featuring more than 100 aerospace and defense executives. This follows business meetings earlier in the week in London with the chief executive officer of BP and the president of Tate & Lyle’s specialty food ingredients division. Yesterday Tate & Lyle, a British agribusiness, announced plans to invest $90 million in its two Lafayette, Indiana operations.
During the course of FIA, the Governor met with executives from aerospace companies, including Rolls-Royce, Alcoa, GE Aviation and Raytheon, with the airshow—one of the industry’s largest—providing the ideal backdrop for meeting with company executives considering an Indiana business investment or with current Indiana operations. More than 50 executives attended a reception hosted by the Governor at Indiana’s inaugural booth at the airshow to celebrate the state’s rising prominence in aerospace. This was capped by the Governor’s participation with industry and government leaders in a roundtable dialogue hosted by the Aerospace Industries Association, which discussed competitiveness of the U.S. aerospace and defense industrial base.
“Search among the stars of the aerospace industry, and you will find yourself in Indiana, a state that is attracting growth from the industry’s global powerhouse companies,” said Pence. “Around the world, I am proud of the reputation Indiana has built as a state that works for business. This week, chief executives of leading aerospace firms came ready with questions about doing business in Indiana. We came prepared with the answers—demonstrating that if you want to operate in a location where industry leaders are succeeding, Indiana is the place to be.”
A 22-person delegation accompanied the Governor to the United Kingdom this week to kick off Indiana’s presence at FIA. This was Pence’s third international job-hunting trip as governor and comes just three months after he returned from a targeted jobs mission to Germany and less than a year since leading a 40-person delegation on a trade mission to Japan.
The Governor and his family will be returning to Indiana later this week.
More information about the Governor’s jobs and economic development mission, including video clips and photos, are posted here: http://www.in.gov/gov/UK2014.htm.
