Troy's Trade Mission to Europe
A Whirlwind Trip to Europe Cements Bonds Between Troy and the Business Community
Last month, the City’s Service and Safety Director, Patrick Titterington and the CEO of the Troy Development Council, Joseph Graves, took a week-long trip to Europe to meet with representatives of companies that are currently during business within the City of Troy and one company with interest in contract manufacturing here in town.
While the trip was fairly well known, not much has been reported out about the trip. This publication had the chance to sit down with Mr. Graves to talk about the trip and the value that these trips bring to our community.
“These were some of the best International meetings I have had,” said Graves, an experienced economic development professional, with a resume that showed stops in Missouri and Kentucky. “These businesses we visited already have a footprint in Troy. They know us. Many of their top executives have been in our community, and they like what Troy has to offer.”
Over the seven-day trip, Graves and Titterington found themselves on seven different planes, eleven trains and stayed in four different hotels - their efforts lead to meetings with twenty-four different executives.
“This was not a sightseeing trip, for sure. The logistics were challenging, and we were often bringing our luggage to meetings. Once we were done with a meeting, it was off to a train station to hit the next town,” Graves added.
The businesses that were visited already have a strong presence in the community. These included Novacel (a French company), Freudenberg-NOK (a German company) Conmeq (a Dutch company) and Micropower (a Swedish company). These companies are in manufacturing, making everything from protective films to gaskets.
“If there is one underlying theme for the trip, it’s electrification,” said Graves. I asked him to elaborate. “These European companies are making investments in green energy, and their customers are demanding they make investments in green energy as well.”
So, what does that mean for these manufacturers? Graves expanded, “Look at Freudenberg-NOK. This is a German company celebrating 175 years of business. Freudenberg specializes in seals and gaskets; their first ones were made of leather. As Europe moves away from traditional powered equipment and hydraulics, which use a lot of seals/gaskets, they are retooling their products to be used for in the green energy sector for use in electric motors. Their gaskets may not about preventing fuel or oil leaks and the such, but now in green energy on electric motors, seals and gaskets can help weatherproof sensitive components.”
Does Graves think that might bring about change here stateside? “Definitely. A lot of these green initiatives aren’t just being pushed by government, they are being pushed by the customers of these businesses. Suppliers are having to meet the green energy demands of their buyers. We are probably about twenty years behind Europe here in the United States, but we are not too far off from seeing more solar panels pop up to help create renewable energy here.”
I asked Graves about the benefit these trips provide to the community. His answer was very enlightening, “Other than our visit to the Southern Sweden Chamber of Commerce, these businesses we visited already have a presence here. 80% of the jobs created in any community are going to be created by businesses that are already here. This was more of a business retention visit rather than a business attraction visit. However, with Conmeq, the Dutch company, we were able to meet with a strong prospect.”
So, is there an opportunity for more jobs to be created in Troy? “Absolutely,” said Graves. “These businesses have made investments here and as they look to diversify their product lines, they are looking at what we have available to make new investments in equipment and facilities. The businesses that are going to grow are going to use more automation and robotic equipment, so the job creation isn’t going to be hundreds or thousands of jobs, but more like fifty to a hundred; that is a good number that our community absorb.”
One aspect of economic development that is often overlooked is whether the current workforce is well-trained for the new jobs that are being created. I asked if that is a concern here in Troy? “Not really,” said Graves. “Schools like the Upper Valley Career Center are doing a great job of matching students and businesses together. The Career center has gone on these European trips before, they have seen how these international businesses operate and know the skills that are needed, and they are teaching them to their students.”
But, what about incumbent workers, is there a fear that they will be left behind? “No. Advanced manufacturing is the backbone of what we do here in Troy, and a lot of the skills tend to be interchangeable. Sure, there is a learning curve working with new products, but our workforce is well skilled to meet the demand,” according to Graves.
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I know that there are some complaints about the cost and merits of this type of trip, but I feel that conducted properly they are of great benefit to our community. Thanks for your article that gives citizens a more in-depth non judgemental description.