Twenty-six foreign delegations visit Richardson in 2015, four foreign companies establish offices

By Mike Skelton
Vice President, International Business Development

From left to right: AK Mago, Founding Chairman of the US India C.C.;  US Congressman John Ratcliffe; Dallas Mayor Pro Tem Monica Alonzo; Prime Minister Kenny Anthony;  Congressman Will Hurd; Neel Gonuguntla, President of the US India C.C. DFW; Mike Nair, President of IAUCOM; Mike Skelton;  Manish Nair, COO of IAUCOM.

Since the beginning of 2015, the Mayor’s Office of International Business has conducted 26 meetings with foreign delegations, trade organizations and international companies. Meetings were also held with the Prime Minister of St. Lucia, Consuls General of Canada, Mexico, and India and a City Council Member of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The Mayor’s Office of International Business has also been working to develop economic development relationships with ProMexico, Irish Trade and Investment, Malaysia Trade and Investment, The Greater Dallas Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, KOTRA, US India Chamber of Commerce and the Dubai World Center.

Mr. Yang Li , GM of American Lighting Business Unit of Zhejiang Yankon Group (second from the left) is accompanied by Associate Professor, Electrical Engineering Dept.  at UT Dallas, Mr. Walter Hu (far left), with Mike Skelton and Chairman of the Richardson Chamber of Commerce Charlie Chen. Yankon LED Lighting Co. has leased space in Richardson to open their U.S. office.

 

Four foreign based companies have established offices in Richardson since the beginning of 2015, including Kathrein Scala Division, a German wireless antenna manufacturer; E2V, a UK based semi-conductor design firm; VMN Plus, an Argentina based software company; and Yankon LED Lighting Co., a major Chinese LED lighting manufacturer. E2V is occupying half of the old STARTech building on Collins Boulevard. Both Kathrein Scala Division and VMN Plus have occupied offices in Richardson, while Yankon LED Lighting recently signed a lease but has not yet moved in. 

Two other foreign based companies visited Richardson as part of their exploration of a U.S. expansion location. They included a water purification company from Brazil that focuses on oil and gas exploration service, and the other company is an established electronic instrumentation manufacturer from China. Both are still considering Richardson for their U.S. location.

In March, Vice President for International Business Development Mike Skelton and Director of Economic Development Sue Walker attended the South by Southwest Interactive festival in Austin, Texas and exhibited in the Gaming Expo to promote the gaming and animation cluster in the DFW area for possible recruitment of such companies. Also in March, Skelton and President and CEO Bill Sproull attended the SelectUSA Investment Conference in Washington, D.C. sponsored by the US Department of Commerce and the State Department which was a Foreign Direct Investment forum. Companies from 70 countries attended, and attendance was in excess of 2,400 participants. Face to face meetings were arranged in advance with companies looking to expand to the U.S. Receptions by various embassies and networking events also resulted in introductions to such companies. Skelton also attended the third annual US Ignite conference that was partnered with the GENI organization and was held later in the week following the SelectUSA conference in Washington, D.C.