“We’re out there selling the work force to these folks, letting them know we have people who want to work and understand the global economy,” he said. “I’m pretty upbeat and encouraged that we’ll have some further dialog on both sides and it will eventually lead to new jobs.”

Sparks and Girt stayed in Japan an extra day to visit the parent company of ELSA, an automotive component manufacturer in Elwood.

Graham hopes the city and county can further their relationships with Asian industry and plans to talk to universities to expand their educational contacts and hospitals to further health care contacts.

“We very much increased the knowledge of Anderson with these folks,” he said. “We talked to a lot of people and we told the story of why this is a good place to invest and to live.”