Multilingual booklets tout Wood County

8/11/2004

BOWLING GREEN - Wood County economic development officials want to lure new businesses here by speaking their language.

New glossy brochures touting the county's business opportunities, location, and quality of life have been printed in Japanese and German as well as English.

The Wood County Economic Development Commission spent $26,000 to design and print 4,000 copies of the booklets, which will be distributed at trade shows, during international trade missions, and locally through its office and its members, said Tom Blaha, executive director.

"We like to think we have a virtual metropolitan area," Mr. Blaha said, explaining that major transportation routes - the Ohio Turnpike and I-75 - intersect in Wood County; 18 million people are within a two-hour driving radius, yet the county still offers the benefits of a rural area and a rural work ethic.

Currently, Wood County is home to five Japanese-owned companies and two German-owned companies.