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2022/07/18 - Mayor's Column: International Development

“AN OPEN DOOR TO O’FALLON”
A WEEKLY NOTE FROM MAYOR HERB ROACH


­­­O’Fallon is one of the fastest growing communities in Illinois. We have a wealth of great developers, home builders, big and small businesses, and strong positive impact of nearby Scott Air Force Base. Most of the new development in town are new subdivisions for home construction or a new retail store or office building. But we don’t stop there; here in O’Fallon, we have reached out further in our future development.

Just prior to the COVID-19 outbreak, we had visits from the Japanese Manufacturing Association and eight of their manufacturers.  This was a follow-up to a presentation that eight of us from the region attended and were invited to speak to about 20 Japanese Manufacturers in Washington, D.C.

I was one of four that was then invited to travel to Japan to visit with the Japanese Government and tour manufacturing facilities just prior to the shutdown of travel to Japan due to COVID.  We were told three months ago that this invitation is still open but Japan still has limits on international visitors to their country.

We haven’t let this stop us from introducing O’Fallon and the surrounding areas to manufacturers and transportation firms from other countries. Four weeks ago, I had the pleasure of meeting with representatives from South Korea, India, and Hungary here in O’Fallon.  One of the representatives told me that we will meet again.

Within the past week we have received an inquiry from a French firm that wants to meet with us to look at O’Fallon for a possible site.

I know that this is not a quick process and takes years to cultivate and develop these relations.  But O’Fallon is being recognized for the many assets that we have to offer firms.  I say this from my own 30+ years of international experience and the development of over 15 facilities across the U.S. and in five other countries.

It is significant that we have already gotten to a point of recognition where firms are coming to our community to check things out for themselves.

These types of developments take time, and you must lay the groundwork but, in the end, they can produce hundreds of good jobs with good wages and benefits for our citizens.

As residents of O’Fallon, you should always be able to reach out to your elected officials and ask questions about what is happening in O’Fallon. Having open communications is important to me and something I care very deeply about. Thank you for reading, and please remember, my door is always open.