Welcoming A New Investor And Nation To State's International Business Family
Welcoming A New Investor And Nation To State's International Business Family
by Governor Joe Manchin
This week, I was pleased to representatives of Queensland, Australia-based Quik Corp. Pty Ltd., to announce the company's North American subsidiary, Intelli-Spray Inc. will relocate its headquarters from California to the Kanawha Valley, making it the first Australian investment project in the Mountain State.
Intelli-Spray and its parent company, Quik Corp., manufacture a unique range of remote control retractable hose reel systems for invasive and aquatic weed control, mosquito control, horticultural chemical spraying in glasshouses and fire fighting. Intelli-Spray Inc. will locate in the Big Chimney area near I-79, north of Charleston. The company is the 94th international company to establish a major investment presence in West Virginia.
This announcement further confirms that West Virginia is sending a strong message to the global business community and providing many advantages as a central North American location from which to do business. The steps that we have taken during the past nine months to improve the cost of doing business in West Virginia have bolstered our pitch to prospective investors - both domestically and globally.
Location was critical factor in Intelli-Spray's decision to invest in West Virginia. The Mountain State's advantage of being a day's drive from 60 percent of the nation's population and proximity to the company's target markets in the eastern United States spurred Intelli-Spray officials to look seriously at locating here. After working with the Charleston Area Alliance and the West Virginia Development Office to evaluate a possible relocation to our state, company officials took notice of the steps we've been taking to open our state for business and decided to invest in West Virginia.
It's always good to have an ambassador spreading the word about West Virginia's business advantages globally, and we are already working with Intelli-Spray to spread that message to other Australian companies that are exploring investments in North America. Representatives from the West Virginia Development Office's International Division will be traveling to Australia later this fall to meet with prospects to discuss additional potential investment projects in the Mountain State.
Just as we have with our other major international trading partners, we look forward to building and fostering this new relationship with Queensland and the nation of Australia. There is tremendous potential in this new market for West Virginia products and investments, and I look forward to working to encourage more companies like Intelli-Spray to invest in their future in West Virginia.
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