Do. It is that common sense that literally had us look inwards and put together a plan for the department moving forward. Governor nixon was a huge proponent of that. He was very big on making sure we had a strategy and that we were following the strategy and making certain we were addressing all the needs that needed to be addressed. The items brought up by our two private sector panelists, on the slide here, you will see key economic indicators. I wanted to take an opportunity to tell you about some of the other key advantages we have that are not readily available or recognizable. To that point, we are smack dab in the middle of the United States. Our location is key to the success of the state of missouri. It is location, location, location. If you look at missouri, one of the things you will find, within 600 miles of our state are 62 of all the manufacturing plants in our state. In addition to that, we have an interstate system that spans all across the state, but we are fortunate, we have the scenic route 66 and hours. In addition, we have a rail system that is one of the largest in the country. 4000 miles of track, 17 freight railroads. 17 public river ports, both on the missouri and mississippi river. Last but not least, two international airports. If companies are looking to hit either one of the coasts in two days time, we have them covered. In addition, one of the other key assets we truly believe the state of missouri has is our large and prevent workforce. That has been talked about a lot today. We have literally placed a lot of resources in training and education. It is critically important. We understand how vital it is that we expend resources in that regard. We also understand how vital it is we expend resources in that regard. Our customized jobs programs, our onthejob training program, they are national models, so we are proud of that activity as well. In addition, some other key information, our to the clusters, advanced manufacturing is critically important. These gentlemen right here, the automotive sector is very important. I want to tell the governor one more time with regards to the first thing Governor Nixon did the first day on the job was an executive order to literally make certain the Automotive Industry he put together a task force that would address the issues that face the sector in 2008 and 2009. It is because of that and the focus we placed on the automotive sector that has led to 1. 7 billion worth of investment in two of the largest manufacturers and in addition, over 66 suppliers, including magna, as a matter of fact. The Automotive Industry, we led the resurgence in the state of missouri. We are a truck manufacturer. We are number two in a country with regard to truck production, so we are very proud of that with regards to that cluster. Biosciences, hugely, hugely important. Energy as well. With regards to these clusters, we have some of the most important Corporate Leaders in the world located in our state. We make everything from f1 50 trucks to f15 military aircraft. Hallmark cards to chocolate. Electrical transformers to science technologies. We literally do it all. We have a diverse economy founded on manufacturing, founded on professional services and with regards to tourism and agriculture, not to belittle our agriculture sector, we are a large agricultural state and the bag technologies are critically important to us. Just to round things off, we have talked about talent and how important that is. We have realized that is very important in missouri. Of our workers, 3 million of missouris workers, just over half the population are highly educated with a degree of some sort. In addition, we have 140 degree certifying institutions in the state. Also with regards to that, the interesting thing is we were above the national martin. Theres more educated people in the state of missouri than nationally. Thats another factor we are proud of and we want to make certain we continue in education to make sure we move the dial in that regard. Lastly, we are a lowtech state, a low cost of living state. We have low energy costs as well, which is critically important. We are a very stable state. Aaa bond ratings, one of only four states for over 50 years. We balance the budget and make certain our financial house is always in order and we make certain we are taking business in a responsible and commonsensical manner. It is knows Price Companies like add, and others like kawasaki and toyota called missouri home. Im excited to be on the panel and have this discussion and to look at ways we can address the Business Models and Business Needs of companies as we work with them to locate in the state. I would like to turn it over to donovan johnson, the director of the Global ResourceManagement Group in the north dakota office. I appreciate the opportunity to be here and thank you for the invitation to represent the great state of north dakota. Im with the north Dakota Trade Office and we deal with the export related to issues and north dakota and we partner with the Economic Development finance through commerce, which is where we fall under Foreign Direct Investment. We take a Team Approach to what we try to achieve. North dakota is somewhat of a unique state. A Little Information on the state on where we are and what we do. We are considered a rural state, so we have some of the advantages and maybe disadvantages as it relates to how we operate and what we have as Natural Resources. One of the facts about north dakota is we are the Geographical Center of north america. So companies who want to be geographically centered, north dakota is it. Theres plenty of place to expand, but how we approach for direct investment is we look at what our strengths are and sell into our strengths. We know we are not going to be a fit for everybody and that is ok. We are not looking for companies who want to get a fiveyear lease through the use of incentives and when it done, they decide theyre going to leave and go somewhere else. When we talk about who we are and what we are, we talk about our strengths. I want to highlight some of those. Our governor and his team have done a terrific job in leading our state as it relates to all the states in the country. We have economic strengths we are proud of and we want to surpass all states in gdp growth. We are the top economic performer in the nation since 2000. According to 24 7 wall street, they ranked north dakota as the best state in the nation for years running. We are a constitutionally balancedbudget state and we have funds set aside for future needs and generations. In our mindset, we are here to plan for tomorrow. That is important to us. On the slide, it shows some important things we are involved in. The number one women own revenue businesses in the nation. We try to look at our strengths and say how are we going to approach companies or investors that want to come to north dakota based on who we are . What can we offer to investors coming into us . Somebody mentioned the idea of having a highly Skilled Labor force. We have 21 public and private universities and Technical Schools in north dakota. In addition, they are able to quickly adapt to the change in workplace. If someone is coming in and they need something, we can talk about industries, the need for welders became huge. Like a lot of states, we did not have as many welders as we should have got our schools were able to adapt and provide that skill. Another example is one of our universities developed an engineering degree because of the need for energy in our state. And other example is the Unmanned Aircraft systems. The need was significant to have individuals who were trained as it relates to drones so the university developed a fouryear program on Unmanned Aircraft system operations, the first one in the nation. So we cant that to what the workforce might need and what is going on. We offer a person to person introduction and get to know you on all levels of government, whether its their legislators all the way up to the governors office. We are a small state. We will get to know you and you will get to know us. It is that simple. You can access the decisionmakers. That was brought up here before, from the top on down and meeting with the correct individuals, we offer that. Many times, you walk around the state and it is on a first name basis. You run into people at a conference, that is just how we operate. It is a real advantage. In yesterdays Economic Development committee session, the chairman and ceo of under armour was here. One thing he said the states need to have as a priority is an entrepreneurship environment. According to a recent university of nebraska study, north dakota is the number one entrepreneurship environment in the nation. I say all of these to say it is important for states to identify identify what your strengths are and sell into those strengths. If someone is looking for a port on the ocean, north dakota is not going to be it. If someone is looking for an environment where temperatures dont hit below freezing, north dakota is not going to be at. If someone is looking for quality of life and the ability to enjoy four seasons and all the Natural Resources we have to offer, north dakota has a lot to offer. It comes down to what you are looking for from that standpoint. We border and international market. If you or your Company Think that is important, we have a port coming into north dakota, the fourth busiest highway port in the nation. We have a low cost of operation, the highest Corporate Tax rate is 4. 31 . We have been busy reducing taxes, not increasing them. Weve done that to a significant degree. How do we attract fdi into the state . For any of those at the session yesterday, they highlighted some things they felt were important for states to address if they want to attract fdi into their state. Im happy to say north dakota is halloween those examples. He must have read our notes. Marketing campaign, we have aggressive Marketing Campaigns that target industries appropriate to where we are at an who we are. Aerospace and aviation is huge, so we may have to do some talking from that standpoint. We start looking at overseas offices and contractors that assist us in identifying leads that might be moving in our direction. Those are scenarios where north dakota is strong from an export market standpoint. We engage our export markets. We engage them into what we are doing. It is so important to meet foreign delegates on a face to face basis and establish that level of trust and build that relationship. That is key when you are dealing with Foreign Investments coming in. We host dignitaries frequently and want to showcase not quite the show me state, but we want to showcase who north dakota is. We are consistently doing that and because of the size of our state, we have the opportunity to introduce them to the decisionmakers. Here is what is available, here is what can happen. We encourage partnerships with companies for research and development because we can react. The universities and colleges can react to what needs to happen with them. We provide Workforce Development grants and training and that is needed. We do that. We have numerous financial Incentive Programs available to assist and a very unique structure we have the bank of north dakota that can offer unique financial assistance, the only state owned bank in the nation. So we get to do some things that are unique to everyone else. If it doesnt fit a mold, we can go to the bank of north dakota and say how do we make this work for the benefit of the state . We look at all these things from that standpoint. As far as industry, agriculture is number one. Agribusiness, advanced machinery, we have Global Headquarters as relates to agriculture and manufacturing, so that is key. Energy is the second industry. It is made up of oil, the second largest producing state in the nation. Natural gas, biomass and wind power. We have a lot of opportunity for fossil fuels and the trend to more green Energy Available to us. To other areas that are really strong we have a lot of diversified industries, but technology is one of them. We have a strong biotechnology field and most of you would not realize that. Literally interact all over the world on a global basis. I dont know if anybody knows microsoftss campuses and north dakota. A very strong technological state. The Unmanned Aircraft systems industry talk about an industry that is just starting off a lot of people refer to it as the wild west. A couple of years ago, the federal Aviation Administration selected six test sites across the u. S. To do some testing and research to develop rules and regulations to integrate Unmanned Aircraft vehicles into the manned airspace. North dakota is one of those sites one of those test sites. I am not hesitant to say we leave this effort into the research and what is going on. This attracts a significant amount of interest. We look at what our strengths are and sell into our strengths. In one of only six test sites in the nation, theres not a lot of competition that can come up against us. We have a u. S. Air force base and north dakota that only flies drones and we have the first private development on this air force base that is going to be used for commercial development. Northrop grumman and general atomics are coming in. In october of 2015, just a few months ago, did a mission to the nordic countries and as a result , that was five months ago, we have a Finnish Company that has expanded into north dakota and we are hosting and the couple of weeks several other companies coming to north dakota and want to partner or locate in north dakota because you are looking at literally a multibillion dollar industry in the u. S. And north dakota is a gateway to that marketplace. We have success stories. After their Due Diligence, they looked at north dakota and decided to locate their. Part of that process has been expansion that is one of the things we want to look at. We have a limited budget like everyone else. What can a company invest into the states and what can we invest into them . It is a partnership. Singleengine airplanes with a parachute in case you look at it that way, they need some capital, so they ended up selling their company to a Chinese Company and got the capital and the Chinese Company is going to take an Industry Leader and introduce that aircraft into their general aviation market. A large Norwegian Company wanted to get involved in shale production in the u. S. , came in and bought a company in north dakota. In conclusion, what we look at is who is a good fit for north dakota . How can it be longlasting . All the positive things that come about. North dakota is fertile ground, to use and agricultural term. We can say we are from the government and we are here to help you. Thank you. Thank you, donovan. Leslie alexander, the International Director for the Tennessee Department of Economic Community development will wrap us up here. Leslie alexander with the state of tennessee. I want to say thank you to our governor who is a big proponent of Foreign Direct Investment. Also Workforce Development. Our commissioner, randy boyd, was first tasked with developing a stronger workforce. I am going to hold those two things on the side and talk about a little bit about our strengths as a state. But also talk about the similarities. We are talking about the United States of america. One thing i love about the panel and my colleagues, yes, we are all landlocked. When you look at it from a logistics perspective, we provide a unique perspective. We are not on the coast. We do not have a big port for someone to come into. We have unique attributes. Tennessee has one of those attributes. We also happen to have memphis we have the most exports with microsoft. We have some really unique attributes throughout the state, which is one of the things i see as similarities. Onto some more specifics about tennessee, we are the volunteer state. That goes handinhand with committing my colleagues about some of their attribute. Similarities between us are come along the ideas of industrial machinery, advanced manufacturing, i should say, i. T. We have also heard a common theme of agriculture and commerce. When we look at what we drawn to the states, we have a lot of advanced manufacturing around medical devices, but also opportunities because of the logistics with federal express, fedex in memphis, we have some really strong attributes to the state. We continue the same of medical devices and Health Care Management. We have more hospital beds managed out of middle tennessee than anywhere else in the world. Along with that, we draw in the and tier two the tier two and tier three parts of it. When you look at it with the Hospital Management components, you look at the fact that i. T. Is everywhere in this world. We think of an Autonomous Vehicle that is what we talk about now. To move on to the