A roundtable event has been organised with the Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce on Thursday, April 23, where the delegation – led by Kevin Malecek, director of economic development and international trade for the City of Mentor – will showcase how the city is welcoming to UK investors and exporters.

They will outline the ‘soft landing’ service the city offers to businesses to make it easy to find new contacts and understand the processes of trading in the US. The city also offers lower costs of doing business compared to other areas of the country.

Mentor currently hosts approximately 300 manufacturing companies and over 50,000 employees across manufacturing, retail, and professional services, with strong clusters in advanced manufacturing; aerospace; polymers and chemicals; biomedical industries; and engineering and R&D.

It makes it an ideal region for firms in Coventry and Warwickshire to partner with and offers a route into the world’s biggest economic market in a location that is within 600 miles of 60 per cent of the US and Canadian populations.

The City of Mentor has already struck up similar partnerships in the UK and hopes to secure new opportunities with businesses in Coventry and Warwickshire.

Kevin Malecek said: “The City of Mentor, Ohio, is delighted to be working with the Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber.

“We are very excited about the roundtable where we will give more information on the City of Mentor's unique, bespoke, concierge-based approach to assisting UK companies with their US market entry as well as talk to companies individually who are looking to set up in the US.

“This is the start of what we hope will be a long and fruitful partnership.”

Tim Cooper-Cocks, international trade advisor at the Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce, said the roundtable was an opportunity for firms in the city and the county to find out more about the opportunity.

He said: “I am really pleased that we have been able to cultivate this very positive relationship with Mentor and this presents a very real opportunity for companies in Coventry and Warwickshire to move into the US market.

“Mentor has a huge amount to offer – from a logistical and cost point of view but also from very obvious synergies in terms of industry.

“But, above all that, it’s a place that simply wants to do business with Coventry and Warwickshire and will go out of its way to make investing and exporting to the city as easy as possible.

“I’d urge local businesses to find out more.”

For more information on the roundtable or to book click here