Guest blog post by Steven Meyers, Director of Outreach and Communications, SelectUSA 

Foreign direct investment (FDI) in the United States is a key contributor to U.S. economic growth, directly and indirectly supporting nearly 13 million American jobs. It contributes to U.S. exports, drives innovation, and – most importantly – sends hardworking Americans home with a paycheck.

Since 2007, the SelectUSA program has worked with thousands of clients – business investors, economic development organizations (EDOs), and other leaders – to support job-creating FDI in the United States. Just this month, the SelectUSA team hit a major milestone, having now facilitated more than $30 billion in client-verified business investment projects.

This is the culmination of years of working with clients, hosting global business events, and working closely with American EDOs.

This past year was especially strong, as the SelectUSA team:

• Held the largest-ever SelectUSA Investment Summit, with more than 1,200 potential business investors and economic development representatives from 52 states and territories.
• Brought 10 European medical technology startups to Pittsburgh, Cleveland, and Austin as part of its first inbound investment mission.
• Hosted investment road shows in India and China that facilitated more than 300 meetings between EDOs and potential business investors.
• Released its first-ever research reports, analyzing the positive effects of FDI on manufacturing and high-tech industries.
• Led 20+ EDO delegations to some of the largest trade shows in the world, including Hannover Messe in Germany and BIO Korea.

We were also happy to share many FDI success stories on the International Trade Administration blog. Swiss additive manufacturing company Oerlikon decided to invest $62 million in Huntersville, North Carolina, after attending the 2016 SelectUSA Investment Summit. A.T. Kearney ranked the United States as the world’s top destination for business investment for the 5^th year in a row. And Mahindra recently shared its reasons for investing in the United States, creating jobs in Michigan.

Our team at SelectUSA and our partners in the economic development community make this all possible. I thank them for their dedication and hard work.

You may not have heard of SelectUSA, and you may not regularly think about the impact of FDI, but millions of U.S. workers rely on FDI for their livelihood. We are proud to support that, and we look forward to working with more clients and helping to create U.S. jobs.

Learn more about the upcoming 2018 SelectUSA Investment Summit, June 20-22, in Washington, D.C. at selectusasummit.us. Visit selectusa.gov for more information about our services, events, and more. You can also follow us on Twitter @SelectUSA.