Investments linked to Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin's trade mission to Japan in 2012 alone have exponentially exceeded the costs of that trip, as well as costs of a trade mission to Europe in 2013, and a return visit to Japan earlier this year, a spokesman for the governor said Tuesday.
"When you look at what these trips cost compared to the hundreds of millions of dollars of investments, I think anyone would be hard-pressed to say they're not worthwhile," Tomblin spokesman Chris Stadelman said.
He said the 2012 visit -- which lasted 10 days, from May 31 to June 9 -- is directly linked to seven expansions of Japanese-owned business operations in West Virginia, amounting to $144 million in new investment and 231 new jobs.
Expansions at Hino Motors, Nippon Thermostat and Wheeling-Nisshin were among those announced in the months after that 2012 trade mission. The cost to the state for that trade mission was just over $107,000, according to Tomblin's office.
The governor's latest trade mission to Japan, May 12-21 of this year, cost roughly the same amount, with the state Development Office listing costs for airfare, ground transportation, lodging and meals for the eight-member state delegation totaling $63,524.
That doesn't include expenses for receptions that the state delegation hosted in Tokyo and Nagoya, which have not been released by the Development Office. However, similar receptions in those cities during the 2012 visit had a total cost of just over $27,000.
Stadelman said company officials, both foreign and domestic, have said they appreciate having direct access to Tomblin and top state officials like Commerce Secretary Keith Burdette, a level of accessibility that larger states often can't provide.
Earlier this week, The Associated Press reported that governors around the country have been leading more foreign trade missions -- with 80 taken or scheduled since the start of 2014 -- and the results of those trips are often difficult to gauge.
"The reason there's no consensus is because it's really hard to measure how much of any export is due to this trip," Andrew Cassey, an associate economics professor at Washington State University who analyzed more than 500 gubernatorial trade trips taken from 1997 through 2006, told the AP.
Stadelman said Tuesday it's too early to see specific investments resulting from the most recent visit to Japan, but said the trade missions are important to maintain relationships with investors and potential investors.
"Relationships are incredibly important to these long-term investors," he said. "These trips help build and maintain these relationships."
The state Development Office provided data showing that 20 Japanese companies, 26 German companies, 11 Italian companies, eight French companies, six companies based in Switzerland, and two companies based in Spain have investments in West Virginia, but could not provide a breakdown of which investments could be directly linked to the governor's trade missions to Japan and Europe.
The AP noted that Tomblin also led a trip to Brazil last November. State officials announced in 2013 that the Brazilian company Odebrecht was looking to build an ethane cracker plant in Wood County, but company officials have said in recent months that they are reconsidering those plans.
Reach Phil Kabler at philk@wvgazette.com, 304-348-1220, or follow @PhilKabler on Twitter.