When Honda built its first Accord in Marysville in 1982, it did more than open a factory. It placed an early, high-profile bet on Ohio that helped set the Columbus Region on a decades-long path to becoming one of America’s most reliable destinations for foreign direct investment (FDI). More than 40 years later, that bet looks prescient, and the Columbus Region has turned a single arrival into a global roster.
Today, 356 international companies operate 387 facilities across the Columbus Region, employing more than 49,000 people. Those companies come from every corner of the world — Japan, Germany, the United Kingdom, Canada, France and beyond — and they keep choosing to grow here. The reason is simple: global businesses locate where they can win, and increasingly, they are deciding they can win in Columbus.
A region built to help companies grow
A company expanding into the United States can put its capital almost anywhere, which means the markets that win are the ones that make growth easier. The Columbus Region has spent years assembling exactly that kind of environment.
It starts with the fundamentals that are most valuable to companies, all of which the Columbus Region has: a central location within a day’s drive of roughly half the U.S. population, a deep and growing talent pipeline anchored by The Ohio State University, Columbus State Community College and dozens of regional colleges, and a more affordable cost of living that lets companies grow because their investment dollars go much further than in expensive coastal markets. Ohio’s business climate reinforces the case — the state was named No. 1 in CNBC’s 2026 America’s Top States for Business rankings, a signal to global boardrooms that the fundamentals here are sound.
Those fundamentals are why global brands keep choosing Columbus over larger, more obvious markets. Late last year, STRAUSS — one of Europe’s most recognized workwear brands — selected the Columbus Region for its U.S. headquarters, a decision the company framed as confidence in Columbus’s talent and long-term growth potential. It was the latest name on a list that grows nearly every quarter. Strauss recently announced a partnership with DHL Supply Chain, another European company with a large presence in Columbus.
Japan: the anchor of a global roster
No relationship illustrates the Columbus Region’s FDI strength better than its bond with Japan, its No. 1 foreign investor. More than 150 Japanese-owned operations now employ over 25,000 workers across Central Ohio — from global manufacturers and research centers to advanced logistics. Statewide, Japan accounts for roughly a quarter of all international establishments, with more than 1,100 Japanese companies in Ohio.
Honda remains the cornerstone. What began with that first Accord has expanded into plants in Marysville and East Liberty, the Performance Manufacturing Center, and Honda’s largest research and development facility outside Japan. And Honda’s investment in the Columbus Region keeps growing: recent commitments include $700 million and 327 new jobs to retool existing operations for electric vehicles.
The momentum extends well beyond Honda. Since 2018, more than 20 Japanese companies have chosen to grow in the Columbus Region, bringing more than 1,600 new jobs and more than $953 million in direct investment. Measured across the last 15 years (2011–2025), Japanese investment has brought 3,821 new jobs, $169.1 million in new payroll and $2.06 billion in fixed-asset investment to the Columbus Region’s local economy.
Germany, Europe and a widening map
The Columbus Region’s international appeal reaches well past Japan. Germany has become a major partner, with 38 German-owned companies operating 55 facilities and employing more than 3,900 people in the Columbus Region — part of a broader Ohio footprint of 170-plus German companies and 770-plus facilities statewide. Recent German commitments span North American headquarters and advanced manufacturing and distribution operations, reflecting the same confidence that drew Japanese investors decades ago.
Add the United Kingdom (32 facilities, 2,822 employees), Canada (30 facilities, 3,185 employees), France (16 facilities, 1,035 employees) and dozens of other nations, and a clear picture emerges: Columbus isn’t reliant on any single country. It has built a diversified base of global investment that steadies the regional economy through any one market’s ups and downs.
That strength is increasingly recognized at the state level, where Ohio now ranks No. 12 among all U.S. states for foreign direct investment, drawing 67 projects, $4.7 billion in capital expenditure and 5,240 jobs in recent years.
Why it matters for the community
The real importance of foreign direct investment is about what those investments do for the people who live here. Every international facility represents jobs, and often the kind of high-wage, advanced roles that anchor careers: engineering, research and development, skilled manufacturing and logistics leadership. The tens of thousands of people employed by international companies across the Columbus Region take home paychecks that circulate through local businesses, neighborhoods, and tax bases.
The benefits ripple outward. Billions in fixed-asset investments build the plants, labs and headquarters that will employ Central Ohioans for a generation. Global companies bring suppliers, spin up local partnerships and deepen the region’s expertise in the industries defining the future — from electric vehicles and batteries to advanced manufacturing and research. Their presence strengthens the talent pipeline, giving graduates of Ohio’s universities world-class employers to build careers close to home.
And each new arrival makes the next one easier. Every global company that succeeds in Columbus reinforces the Region’s reputation and pulls in the next wave of investment, jobs and opportunity.
A leader, still climbing
The Columbus Region’s rise as an FDI leader was built over decades, one international arrival, one expansion, one act of confidence at a time, until the sum became a defining regional strength. With 356 international companies, more than 49,000 jobs and a pipeline that keeps filling, Central Ohio has established itself as a place where the world’s most ambitious companies come to grow.
For those companies, the value proposition is location, talent and a community built to help them succeed. For the Columbus Region, the return is measured in jobs, investment, and momentum. And for the people of Central Ohio, foreign direct investment is turning global confidence into local opportunity.
