In This Issue

• Spotlight: FDI: Facilitating Business Investment in the United States
• Success Story: Italy’s Sofidel Expands U.S. Presence with New Oklahoma Manufacturing Plant
• Highlight: Rutgers Food Innovation Center Encourages FDI in New Jersey

Spotlight: FDI: Facilitating Business Investment in the United States

Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) plays an important role in the U.S. economy by helping to create jobs, increase wealth and living standards, and by helping to stimulate the overall growth and innovation that drives U.S. economic competitiveness. Many communities and regions across the nation have made attracting FDI a key component in building out their economic development strategies and EDA has helped to drive these strategies forward.

The U.S. is the largest recipient of FDI in the world according to SelectUSA, a government-wide program led by the U.S. Department of Commerce designed to promote and facilitate foreign business investment in the U.S. Since its inception, SelectUSA has facilitated US $30.7 billion in investment, creating and/or retaining tens of thousands of U.S. jobs.

Besides the investments the agency makes to support local efforts to attract FDI, EDA is pleased to help inform our stakeholders about the incredible resources available to them through the SelectUSA program. Of note, EDA is today working with SelectUSA today to develop a toolkit that will help communities implement more effective FDI attraction and export promotion practices. Stay tuned for more information on this project.

Click here to read more.

Success Story: Italy’s Sofidel Expands U.S. Presence with New Oklahoma Manufacturing Plant

In 2017, Rogers County, Oklahoma secured a $1.5 million EDA investment to help attract Sofidel, an Italian company, into the city of Inola. Today, Sofidel, the second-largest tissue paper manufacturer in Europe, and sixth largest worldwide, has started building its new, integrated paper production plant in Inola, just 30 miles east of Tulsa. The new plant will combine sustainability and technological innovation, housing two tissue technology machines for a total output of 120,000 metric tons a year. The project is expected to create 250 jobs and generate $360 million in private investment.

To help bring this opportunity to the region, a partnership of local governments, the State of Oklahoma, and two EDA designated Economic Development Districts (EDDs) - the Indian Nations Council of Governments and the Grand Gateway Economic Development Association - worked together to develop the industrial site that brought the company and others to the area.

Click here to read more.

Highlight: Rutgers Food Innovation Center Encourages FDI in New Jersey

The Rutgers Food Innovation Center and its network throughout the state of New Jersey provide a unique food industry resource that supports both domestic and international companies.

In 2017, EDA invested $2.5 million in the Cumberland County Improvement Authority to help build a new Rutgers Food Innovation commercialization center facility that will support the county’s food production cluster.

The new 30,973 square-foot center will be an asset for expanding companies and will provide space for international companies that are seeking to establish a presence in the U.S. The EDA investment will help to establish food processing space to include site-work, HVAC, fire protection, refrigerator system, and utilities such as water, sewer, natural gas, telephone, and electric.

Click here to read more.