Foreign Diplomatic Corps Visits Indy Region

On May 6-8, over 30 foreign ambassadors representing countries across four continents joined Ambassador Sean P. Lawler, Chief of Protocol of the United States, to engage local business and community leaders and spotlight America’s heartland. Because the Indianapolis region has emerged on the world stage as a signature city for companies in information technology, automotive and advanced manufacturing, and biomedical and pharmaceutical research, the delegation spent time with our local businesses and civic organizations to learn more about our local economy.

During their visit, the ambassadors toured and met with representatives from the National Collegiate Athletic Association, Indiana University, Cummins, the Dallara IndyCar Factory, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and Eli Lilly and Company. On the last day of the visit, the Indy Partnership, a business unit of the Indy Chamber, hosted a breakfast to highlight our local industries, businesses, and economy in the Indy Region.

At the breakfast, the Indy Chamber’s Chief Economic Development Officer Maureen Donohue Krauss moderated a panel on the tech and logistics industries including panelists Glenda Akers, Chief Operating Officer for the Marketing Cloud at Salesforce, and Tina Adams, the Managing Director of the IndyHub Operations at FedEx Express.

The breakfast was made possible by the Indy Partnership’s Global Indy program, which encourages international activity and fosters international relationships. The Indy Partnership is putting the nine-county Indianapolis region on the map for global business by convening partners to support international commerce, helping firms increase exports, attracting foreign direct investment, and telling our region’s global story. The Indy Partnership leads regional participation in the Global Cities Initiative, a joint project of the Brookings Institution and JPMorgan Chase.