Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee, top Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development officials and business leaders recently traveled to Asia to meet with world-class businesses to strengthen current partnerships and share why Tennessee continues to be the top American state to invest.
While in Japan, Lee met with Bridgestone, a global business that employs 5,000 Tennesseans and locates its American headquarters in the Volunteer State, as well as Nissan, a worldwide company that employs nearly 12,000 Tennesseans across five counties. The delegation also visited NTT DATA Group Corporation, a multinational information technology service and consulting firm focused on innovation, with a strong Tennessee presence.
“We appreciate Nissan’s partnership in driving our economy and creating opportunity for Tennessee workers, and we look forward to what’s to come,” Lee said on social media. “We anticipate continued growth as a result of our visit.”
He added that Japan-based companies have invested $20 billion in Tennessee since 2019 and currently employ 60,000 Tennesseans across over 200 businesses.
In Tokyo, Lee also spoke at SEUS-Japan 2025 — Joint Meeting between the Southeast U.S./Japan Association — to share the significant impact of Japanese investment in Tennessee going back more than 40 years to when then-Tennessee Gov. Lamar Alexander welcomed Nissan to the Volunteer State. Lee boasted that this successful partnership has resulted in the creation of some 600,000 jobs in Tennessee.
The international recruiting trip marked Lee’s sixth international recruitment trip since taking office in 2019 and also included visits to South Korea and Taiwan.
The 48th Annual Joint Meeting of the SEUS/Japan Associations will be held next year in Tennessee from Oct. 25-27 at the JW Marriott Nashville.
