(WKBN) — As the Mahoning Valley looks to become a hub in the electric vehicle industry, leaders from a country more than 7,700 miles away are taking notice.
When it comes to electric vehicle manufacturing it appears all eyes even those from afar are watching what’s happening in Voltage Valley.
“I think there are many opportunities in many different regions of Ohio. Certainly, this region has already well established EV infrastructure and component technology manufacturing, so I believe there’s a lot of collaboration that could be done with the different companies,” said Foxconn Technology Group Board of Directors member Dr. Jay Lee.
Friday, Taiwan business and government leaders toured the lab at BRITE Energy Innovators in Warren.
They learned how the valley’s higher education institutions are training the future workforce.
“This is just the start of many programs, many more dialogues and meetings, but today was just the first step in what we believe will be a long process of continuing cooperation with the Taiwanese government with the Ohio government but more importantly with the Valley,” said former state senator Sean O’Brien.
The goal was to show business leaders and government officials from Taiwan what the area has to offer and what the future holds for Voltage Valley. The visit to Trumbull County comes just two days after the bipartisan Taiwan Friendship Caucus was announced in Columbus.
“The partnership with Taiwan is crucial. It’s probably the biggest building block that Ohio needs for our future,” said Senator Michael Rulli.
“We need to work together to bring the outcomes of dialogues between Taiwan and U.S. to the state level the city level so that is why we think it is important to come to Youngstown region to talk to people on the ground,” said Director-General of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office Johnson Chiang.
