Outgoing commerce secretary recalls a Southern delicacy helping Alabama land a major economic development
Alabama’s outgoing Commerce Secretary Greg Canfield has seen tens of billions of dollars in investment come to Alabama during his 12-plus years on the job.
But the mechanics of landing a deal can hinge on many different details – large and small.
Canfield, who announced today he is departing the job at years’ end, told an audience in Tokyo at the Southeast U.S./Japan Association this week about how one particular deal fell into place, thanks to good old fashioned Southern cuisine.
According to Global Atlanta, Canfield told the story that a visiting Japanese CEO was getting close to making a decision. At stake was a $100 million metal stamping plant for Japanese auto supplier Yorozu Corp., a project projected to create 300 jobs.
It was time to eat. However, there were no Japanese restaurants in Jasper, one of multiple projected sites around the region.
Instead, the group went to the nearby country club. What followed was an incentive of a different kind.
“It offered a very distinctly down-home menu item that this particular Japanese CEO had never heard of, much less tried. So I urged him to sample…fried green tomatoes,” Canfield said. “The Southern meal was a hit. And we built a great rapport in that moment, sharing a meal together and something that this gentleman had never tried, but unexpectedly learned to enjoy.”