Today, Governor Pete Ricketts and the Nebraska trade delegation began the fourth day of the Nebraska Trade Mission to Japan with a visit to the Shizuoka Prefecture to meet with Shizuoka Vice Governor Akihito Yoshibayashi. Shizuoka was Omaha’s first sister city and the two have been sister cities since 1965.
After the meeting with Vice Governor Yoshibayashi, Governor Ricketts hosted a Nebraska-Shizuoka business networking lunch. This lunch provided local Shizuoka businesses and organizations the opportunity to network and build relationships with Nebraska trade delegates. The Governor and trade delegation then traveled to Nishinomiya to tour Shizuki Electric Company. TRW Capacitors, a business that was viewed as one of the leaders in film capactiros for electronics and instrumentation, purchased Goodall manufacturing of Ogallala in 1960. Then, TRW was purchased by Shizuki in 1986 and became part of the American Shizuki Corporation whose Ogallala branch employs over 100 Nebraskans today.
The Governor and Nebraska trade delegation wrapped up the fourth day of the Nebraska trade mission by traveling to Osaka followed by a call back to Nebraska media.
The trade delegation will begin day five of the trade mission with a tour of Hyogo Works, a Kawasaki Heavy Industries plant. You can see more pictures from day four here.