Nagoya businesses visit Moses Lake

MOSES LAKE — Representatives of some of the largest manufacturers in Japan were in Moses Lake earlier this week to see what sort of business opportunities are available in the region.

According to Allan Peterson, a business advisor with the Small Business Development Council, part of the Grant County Economic Development Council, the whole point of the two-day long visit was to bring business people together from Nagoya Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Inland Pacific Northwest and see what happens.

“There were products they were interested in,” Peterson said of the Japanese visitors. “But we did this just to establish contacts. They took lots of notes, which they said they will review when they get back to Japan.”

The delegation included representatives from Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (parent company of Mitsubishi Aircraft, which is testing its new regional jet here in Moses Lake), representatives from several companies in the Toyota Group, Japan’s largest airline All Nippon Airways, Tokai Electronics, and a number of other large manufacturers.

They gathered in the “fishbowl” of the main terminal at the Grant County International Airport on Monday to listen to presentations from Brant Wahlman, sales manager for Greenpoint Technology here in Moses Lake, and Rick Taylor, vice president for sales with Altek, a precision manufacturer based in Spokane.

According to Debbie Doran-Martinez with the Moses Lake Chamber of Commerce, the meeting was all about making connections that can lead to future business.

“It was about building goodwill,” she said. “We’re hoping more Japanese companies will site plants here, or source their goods and products from here.”

Richard Hanover, development director for the Port of Moses Lake, the 27 visiting members of the Nagoya Chamber of Commerce specifically wanted to meet with executives from Greenpoint and Aviation Technical Services, an Everett, Washington, based company that specializes in maintaining and repairing airplanes.

“They said it was essential, they wanted to meet with our biggest tenants,” Hanover said. “They chose Moses Lake because they wanted to see the Mitsubishi Flight Test Center here.”

Some good relationships and business opportunities have emerged from the trip, Hanover added.

According to Peterson, some delegation members said they wanted to meet with members of the Small Business Development Center when they visit Japan next month. Something he interpreted as a good sign.

“They said, ‘When you come over, contact us’,” he said.

Representatives of the Economic Development Council will visit Seoul, the capital of South Korea, on June 3-6, and will then visit Tokyo, Japan, from June 7-11, Peterson said.

Hanover said their guests from Nagoya truly enjoyed their visit to Moses Lake, especially the evening festivities at Hidden Meadow which featured a barbecue, interpretive dance by members of the Colville nation, a cowboy poet, a roping competition, and music from the country and western band.

“They said it was the highlight and one of the best trips they’d ever been on,” Hanover said.

Charles H. Featherstone can be reached via email at countygvt@columbiabasinherald.com