Pulaski County Expanding International Business Recruitment Efforts to the Republic of Turkey

FROM PULASKI COUNTY, VA – October 29, 2018, the Pulaski County Board of Supervisors and the Pulaski County Economic Development Authority (EDA) expanded their business and industrial recruitment efforts to the Republic of Turkey. Pulaski County, hosting the title of Southwestern Virginia’s Center of International Business, is further extending its welcoming and supportive community for international companies to Turkey.

The County’s economic development team traveled to Washington D.C. to meet and discuss recruitment strategies with leading international business tacticians, as well as Turkey’s Office of the Commercial Counselor. While in D.C., County Administrator Jonathan D. Sweet and Economic Development Director Michael Solomon visited the Turkish Embassy and discussed business cultivation opportunities with top Turkish commercial attachés. The aim was to gain connectivity to Turkish companies looking to establish a U.S. presence.

“We would like Turkish companies to do business in Pulaski County, Virginia,” stated Mustafa Koca, Chief Commercial Counselor. “What we have learned of Pulaski County sounds most promising and we would like to try and set up a trip to come visit the county in hopes of developing meaningful partnerships.”

Turkey is defined as an emerging market economy by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and is among the world’s developed countries according to the CIA World Factbook. It is one of the world’s newly industrialized countries with the world’s 17th-largest nominal gross domestic product (GDP) and 13th-largest GDP by purchasing power parity. The country is among the world’s leading producers of agricultural products; textiles; motor vehicles, transportation equipment; construction materials; consumer electronics and home appliances.

“In looking at Turkey’s main industrial sectors, they are very similar to what Pulaski County has historically produced as well as where we have evolved to in the advanced manufacturing arena,” stated Jonathan D. Sweet, County Administrator. “We feel there are great opportunities for Turkish companies to utilize our international business-friendly environment and skilled workforce, as well as tap into our innovative research and leading edge cybersecurity programs at Virginia Tech and Radford University.”

Home to a diverse advanced manufacturing cluster and an existing concentration of international industries (nine (9) – Sweden, Brazil, Mexico, Australian, Great Britain, Germany, Canada, Columbia and Poland), Pulaski County has honed its wrap-around business support services to provide specific resources and foreign direct investment expertise that are valuable to international businesses and the relocation of their management teams.

“The Board of Supervisors and the EDA are committed to further diversifying and growing our economy and feel international business development, specifically with Turkey, could play a large role in doing just that,” stated Andy McCready, Chair, Pulaski County Board of Supervisors. “We have done a good job of laying the ground work for our team to successfully recruit with the establishment of our Foreign Trade Zone (#238), the International Port of Entry, innovative workforce development programs, our variety of available product and our sincere desire to do business with foreign companies.”

International companies continue to locate and thrive in Pulaski County, with more than 1,000 new jobs having come from these companies in the last 18 months. It is deduced that the county’s skilled and resilient labor force, its low cost of doing business, its transportation infrastructure and an array of partnership opportunities has been the foundation to the robust growth patterns of companies that call Pulaski County home.

“The logistics of and connectivity to existing local and regional foreign-owned enterprises and OEM’s, along with their supply chains, makes Pulaski County one of the most commonsensical locations to locate new U.S. based operations,” stated John Wyatt, Chair, Economic Development Authority. “We are also quite fortunate to have distinct local and regional assets that are attractive to our foreign friends that include our storied heritage, an abundance of outdoor activities, a diverse expat community, cultural entertainment and a growing creative class that continues to enrich our region.”

Turkey is a transcontinental country in Eurasia and Middle East, located mainly in Western Asia, with a smaller portion on the Balkan peninsula in Southeast Europe. Turkey is bordered by eight countries: Greece and Bulgaria to the northwest; Georgia to the northeast; Armenia, the Azerbaijani exclave of Nakhchivan and Iran to the east; and Iraq and Syria to the south. The country is encircled by seas on three sides, with the Aegean Sea to the west, the Black Sea to the north, and the Mediterranean Sea to the south. The Bosphorus, the Sea of Marmara, and the Dardanelles, which together form the Turkish Straits, divide Thrace and Anatolia and separate Europe from Asia. Ankara is the capital while Istanbul is the country’s largest city and main cultural and commercial centre, classified as a leading global city. Turkey is a charter member of the UN, an early member of NATO, the IMF and the World Bank, and a founding member of the OECD, OSCE, BSEC, OIC and G-20.

Contact: Jonathan D. Sweet, ICMA-CM
County Administrator
Pulaski County, Virginia
(540) 980-7705
jsweet@pulaskicounty.org

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