Italian and German business executives have toured the Mid-Ohio Valley as they eye locations in America.

By LINDA HARRIS
Ohio Valley Correspondent

The State Journal

Business leaders in the Mid-Ohio Valley hope they can bring European investment dollars to the Mountain State.

Karen Facemyer, president of West Virginia’s Polymer Alliance Zone, said the group, with the help of the West Virginia Development Office, has been courting foreign companies interested in developing U.S. operations bases.

“It’s very promising for them,” she said, noting German and Italian executives have toured the area. “I guess it’s the difference between the Euro and the dollar. They’re looking for more of a U.S. presence,” she said. “I think some are looking to buy (materials), especially if they can get it cheaper here. With the (currency exchange rate), it’s possible they could buy materials cheaper here and ship them overseas. But I think they’re also looking at what it’s going to cost to do business here.”

She said that’s where West Virginia has the upper hand: With many states grappling with spiraling debt, West Virginia’s financial outlook is relatively healthy.

“We’re not raising taxes, and we’re not laying people off at the state level,” she said. “A lot of states have started raising businesses taxes to get themselves out of the hole, and we’re not doing that. (The business community) is very interested in (us).”

Facemyer said an Italian company is looking at opening a sales office in the United States, “and, if that goes well, they’d eventually like to do some production here, too. But from my conversations with them, that would be years down the line.”

A German company, on the other hand, is “buying minerals and trying to start production here. They’re looking to start a light manufacturing facility within a two- or three-year period,” she said.

In addition, the PAZ also was invited to take part in a medical devices summit in early December.

“We were interviewed and selected as the one economic development group they wanted there,” she said. “This one (had) some Fortune 500 companies, all with expansion projects they want to do in the next few months.”

While none of those companies have actually toured the area, she said she sees some “really good possibilities.”

Facemyer said the PAZ is trying to be proactive and explore all possibilities.

“I think in the past, maybe we sat and waited for things to happen, and by the time we noticed, opportunity had passed us by and gone to other states,” she said.