Mayors and economic development leaders from a cross section of Summit County will spend the two weeks after Thanksgiving visiting four major Indian cities. Louis Berroteran is Executive Director of the Summit County Mayor's Association. He says the decision stemmed from seeing traditional sources of investment - drying up.
BEROTTERAN: We can't just sit back and think people are going to come knock on our doors, so the mayors of our association unanimously agreed that we have to think outside the box, and do things government has not traditionally done in the past.
Impetus for the visit grew when Indian business leaders visited Northeast Ohio in 2007 and expressed an interest in creating companies here - or investing in existing startups.
Mayor Don Kuchta of Macedonia says he is 'enthused' about the trip. His city already has a Foreign Trade Zone, and he believes opportunities for Indian investors are limitless.
KUCHTA: We will be able to go there with better ammunition than ever before, to get these people to say let's expand, let's go to Summit County.
Six other local governments are sending officials, but all have agreed that landing even one new company in Summit, will help the entire county.
