Gov. Mitch Daniels of Indiana announced this week that he will lead another Hoosier trade mission to China and Japan beginning in November. About 40 members will join the delegation, which will travel to Shanghai and Zhejiang, Indiana’s Chinese sister-state, then on to Nagoya and Tokyo in Japan.

From the news release, “Governor to travel to China and Japan“:

“Following our first trip to China last year, we’ve had several successes. The potential for more jobs from China is growing, and we’ll spend additional time there this year,” said the governor. “Of course, our trips are always built around visiting our customers in Japan, and we’ll do the same again this year.”

More than 42,000 Hoosiers are employed by more than 200 Japanese companies in the state. Those companies have investments here of more than $9.8 billion. Since last year’s trip, China-based Y.K. Furniture announced plans to establish a $24 million U.S. headquarters in Marion and lithium-ion battery maker EnerDel announced an agreement with Wanxiang, the largest auto parts producer in China, which EnerDel says will rapidly accelerate its business plan. The governor met with officials from Y.K. Furniture and Wanxiang during his 2009 trip to China. (continue reading…)

NAM President John Engler was in Indiana Wednesday and traveled to Greensburg for a tour of the Honda plant there. The Republic newspaper of nearby Columbus was on hand and published a page one piece, “State coped well with downturn.”

The Honda plant is notable because it manufactures the natural gas-powered Civic GX there. In addition, in September Honda announced that the plant would build Honda Civic Sedans for sale in Mexico and export to 22 Latin American and Caribbean nations. In his remarks last evening at the Japan-America Society of Indiana, Engler recalled an earlier visit to the Subaru plant in Lafayette, Ind., which also exports to Latin America.

So there are more examples of U.S. plants, employees and communities that would benefit from enactment of the Colombia and Panama Free Trade Agreements, making their Indiana-manufactured products more competitive abroad.

Interesting, too, that the talk turned so quickly to the need for skilled employees, even during an economic downturn.

Rick Schostek, vice president of Honda Manufacturing of Indiana, said nearly 30,000 applied for about 1,000 openings in 2008, allowing plant managers to carefully select workers.

Plant officials looked for workers with a basic foundation in math and reading and wanted people who could work in a team environment and had good problem-solving skills.

“We can teach our processes here,” Schostek said. “We just need that basic foundation.”

Engler said manufacturers’ success depends primarily on workers’ education.

“And that doesn’t necessarily mean a four-year college degree,” Engler said.

“It can be an associate’s degree or specialized training.”

Engler also suggested that high schools start training students interested in manufacturing so that those who want to go directly to a job after graduation will be better prepared.