Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher is heading a delegation of nearly 50 business and economic development leaders to Japan today, hoping to nurture relationships that will lead to new jobs and investments in Ohio.

Japan is Ohio's largest single-country source of foreign direct investment, with 300 facilities employing more than 60,000 Ohioans. Japan is also Ohio's third-largest export market, according to the state.

Representing Northeast Ohio during the week-long trip is Akron Deputy Mayor Bob Bowman, FirstEnergy Director of Economic Development Patrick Kelly, Tom Waltermire and Carin Rockind of Team NEO, and Case Western Reserve University's vice president of research, Mark Coticchia.

Rockind said Team NEO has at least a dozen meetings scheduled, many of them with companies in the biomedical and alternative energy industries. Most of the Japanese businesses on their radar already have a foothold in Ohio, or have been brought to their attention by other Please see Mission, C7

area businesses.

''Our specific goal is additional investment in the region,'' Rockind said. And face-to-face meetings are important because ''Japanese culture is very relationship-based.''

A visit to the Bridgestone Firestone headquarters, a company already with a significant presence in Akron, is on the agenda.

''Anyone who is here already, we want to thank them for being here and assure them of the state's commitment to them,'' Rockind said.

Additionally, Ohio wants to make sure if Bridgestone or any other local company is looking to expand, ''we want those new investments to come our way,'' she said.

The week's events include the 2007 Midwest U.S.-Japan Association Conference in Tokyo, which will be attended by nine other state delegations. Those states are expected to have dozens of representatives meeting with Japanese businesses throughout the week as well, but Rockind said Ohio's neighbors aren't necessarily the competition.

In today's global economy, for any particular project, ''We might be competing against Texas, we might be competing against Poland,'' she said.

This is the first official overseas business mission for Fisher, who took office in January and also serves as the director of the Ohio Department of Development.

''I look forward to starting new relationships, deepening existing ones and, most importantly, demonstrating that Ohio has the innovation and vision to move with the changes in today's economy,'' he said in a written statement Thursday.