Sasakawa USA: The Alliance Working in America Series

Japan-Kentucky Collaboration:
Developing the Bluegrass Workforce and Economy
Co-sponsored by Sasakawa Peace Foundation USA, the Consulate-General of Japan in Nashville,
and the World Affairs Council of Kentucky and Southern Indiana
In partnership with World Trade Center Kentucky and Japan-America Society of Kentucky
March 7, 2019 12:00-2:00 PM
Hyatt Regency Lexington, Hyatt Suites
401 W High Street, Lexington, KY 40507
Japan is Kentucky's top foreign direct investor, with at least 191 Japanese-owned facilities operating andcreating nearly 46,000 full-time jobs in the state. Kentucky ranks number two nationally in terms of thepercentage of jobs supported by Japanese foreign direct investment.
For Japanese companies in Kentucky and for educators and state/local authorities who have been actively
reaching out to Japan to invite additional investments and job creation, workforce improvement has been acommon top priority.
This luncheon discussion will discuss Japan's future overseas investment interests and the kinds ofworkforce needed in Kentucky to support these investments. The event will be an opportunity to identify
the challenges that Kentucky faces to recruit and train the necessary workforce, and explore how Japaneseand U.S. companies, state and local authorities, and educational institutions can work together to addressthese challenges.
This event is offered as part of Sasakawa USA's The Alliance Working in America (TAWA) program.
Sasakawa USA launched The Alliance Working in America (TAWA) series to reach out and engage with
regional leaders and influencers in U.S. cities outside of Washington, D.C. on the importance of the U.S.Japan alliance to U.S. interests, both at the regional and national levels. Previous TAWA programs havebeen held in Houston, TX; Atlanta, GA; and Oregon.

Program Agenda
12:00-12:30

Registration/Lunch

12:30-12:45

Welcome remarks
The Honorable Hiroyuki Kobayashi, Consul-General of Japan in NashvilleAmbassador James P. Zumwalt, CEO, Sasakawa USA

12:45-1:30

A Conversation on “Japan-Kentucky Collaboration: Developing the Bluegrass Workforce andEconomy”
Panelists:
Isamu Wakamatsu, Executive Director, Research and Information Services,Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) New York
Beth Davisson, Executive Director, The Workforce Center, Kentucky ChamberFoundationCassidy Cocanougher, Manager, Regional Engineering & Skill Training Center, Hitachi
Automotive Systems Americas, Inc.
Moderator:
Ian Mooers, Director of Training, The World Trade Center Kentucky (WTC-KY)

1:30-2:00

Audience Q&ASpeaker Bios*in alphabetical order
Cassidy Cocanougher is the Manager of the Regional Engineering & Skill Training
Center at Hitachi Automotive Systems Americas, Inc. In his current position,
Cassidy’s team is responsible the development and implementation of training for(HIAMS)AM’s incumbent and newly hired members. This training includes both soft
skill and technical curriculum.
Cassidy joined Hitachi Automotive Systems Americas, Inc. in October 2015 with thedirective of establishing a formal training center for the Americas region. He had
previously taught high school students in both Shelby and Lincoln Counties who were enrolled in Industrial
Maintenance Technology programs.
Cassidy entered the field of technical education following a career as an industrial engineering technician
with Hitachi Automotive Products for a period of eight years and owning/operating a construction company
for a period of 9 years. Cassidy continues to study Career & Technical Education at Eastern Kentucky
University and has completed technical training through the Kentucky Community & Technical CollegeSystem.

Beth Davisson is the executive director of the Kentucky Chamber Foundation’s
Workforce Center. She has served as the Immediate Past President of the LouisvilleSociety for Human Resource Mandagement and is the current Workforce Readiness
Co-Chair for the Kentucky Society for Human Resource Management.
Beth has spent the last 10+ years aligning talent to the strategic plans of business.
She is a proven workforce strategist and consensus builder, with more than five
years advocating for workforce needs in Kentucky and the nation’s capital. She
earned a bachelor’s degree in Integrated Strategic Communications from theUniversity of Kentucky and a Master of Business Administration from Sullivan University. Beth was honored
as a “Top 40 under 40” and named a “Top 20 People to Know in Human Resources,” by Business FirstLouisville. She is a graduate of the Leadership Louisville Bingham Fellowship program, focused on “Winningthe Talent of the Future,” as well as the Talent Pipeline Management Institute with the U. S. Chamber ofCommerce. Previous employers include Sullivan University, Greater Louisville Inc. and The Oliver Group.
Hiroyuki Kobayashi is the Consul-General of Japan in Nashville. Consul-General
Kobayashi assumed his post as Consul-General of Japan in Nashville on May 20,
2018. Since joining the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) in 1983, he has served inseveral overseas posts and worked on a variety of issues in many different
departments in Tokyo. Immediately prior to arriving in Nashville, Consul-General
Kobayashi served for four years as a Coordinator in the Personnel Affairs Division,
where he was responsible for personnel recruitment and transfer of a third ofJapan’s approximately 6,000 diplomats.
Consul-General Kobayashi lived in the U.S. three times prior to assuming his post inNashville, most recently while serving as First Secretary in the Science Section of the Embassy of Japan in
Washington, DC from 2002 to 2005. His work in Washington focused on U.S.-Japan cooperation in scienceand technology, space, and nuclear energy. The Consul-General trained in the Science Division in his firstyear with MOFA and has extensive experience in these fields. He served as a legal officer in the Treaty
Division of MOFA from 1994 to 1999, serving during that time as a member of Japan’s negotiation teams
for treaties that included the US Japan Science and Technology Cooperation Agreement. He served asPrincipal Deputy Director of the Climate Change Division from 2008 to 2010 and as Senior Coordinator inthe International Nuclear Cooperation Division of MOFA from 2010 to 2012. When the tsunami-relatedaccident at TEPCO’s Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station occurred in 2011, Consul-General Kobayashi
worked to implement relevant international nuclear agreements and coordinate goodwill assistance fromforeign countries.
Consul-General Kobayashi first lived in the U.S. in 1984, when he attended Indiana University to study theMongolian language. Trained also in MOFA’s China and Mongolia Division, he served as a Mongolian desk
officer at MOFA headquarters from 1991 to 1994, when that country was transitioning from socialism to a
democratic system with a market economy. He served as Deputy Chief of Mission of the Embassy of Japanin Mongolia from 2005 to 2008. He was awarded the Friendship Medal of Mongolia by the President ofMongolia, as well as Commendations by the Minister of Finance and the Minister of Education and Culture,in 2008 in recognition of his work to enhance the Mongolia-Japan friendship.
Consul-General Kobayashi served as Director of the Maritime Security Policy Division from 2012 to 2013,working primarily on international cooperation to combat piracy. He was a Deputy Director of the Grant Aid
Division of MOFA from 1999 to 2001, working on food aid and various forms of grant aid. He was a ViceConsul at the Consulate-General of Japan in Chicago from 1989 to 1991. Consul-General Kobayashi isoriginally from Kyoto, Japan. He is married with one adult son.

Ian Mooers is the Director of Training for the World Trade Center Kentucky. As themanager of the Center’s educational training programs, he provides training
solutions to meet the needs of business clients.
Ian comes to the Center with 20 years of experience working in education,community development, and providing business solutions ranging from training torecruitment, and consultation. He served as the Assistant Director of University
Career Services at George Mason University, before being selected as the Director
for Entrepreneur Programs for the entire University where he worked to connect faculty holding patents toinvestors and entrepreneurs in the Washington DC region. During his tenure at Eastern Kentucky University,
he performed community and business development work across southern and eastern Kentucky receiving
five USDA Rural Business Development training grants totaling over 200K to create and preserve jobs in theregion. Most recently, he has worked for Eastern Kentucky Concentrated Employment Program (EKCEP) inHazard developing training programs in manufacturing and international trade to help companies grow andexpand their workforce. At EKCEP, he partnered with Kentucky’s Manufacturing Extension Partnership(Advantage KY Alliance) to develop an on-site business growth training program with manufacturers to help
them avert layoffs and grow operations to expand their workforce. He recently launched an ExportAccelerator Pilot Program in partnership with the World Trade Center Kentucky to build awareness ofinternational markets to companies in eastern Kentucky.
Ian holds a Master’s Degree in Education and a Bachelor’s in Communication. Ian resides in Irvine with hiswife Katie, and their two daughters Alise and Nora. He serves locally on the board of the Estill Development
Alliance, which is a non-profit dedicated to growing the economy of Estill County.
Isamu Wakamatsu is the Executive Director of Research and Information Services at
Japan External trade Organization (JETRO) New York. He previously served as theChief Director of the Research Planning Division and as the Director of the AsiaOceania Division, both in the Overseas Research Department. Prior to that, he worked
as a Senior Economist at JETRO Bangkok. He graduated from the College ofInternational Relations at the University of Tsukuba in 1989 and later spent time in his
professional career as an overseas trainee studying graduate-level courses in
economics at Thammsat University.
Ambassador James Zumwalt became Chief Executive Officer of the Sasakawa Peace
Foundation USA in February 2017. Ambassador Zumwalt was the United States
Ambassador to the Republic of Senegal and the Republic of Guinea Bissau from 2015
to January 2017. Previously, he was responsible for policy toward Japan and Korea
as Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Bureau of East Asia Affairs. When the Great
East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami struck Japan in 2011, Ambassador Zumwalt wasserving as Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo, where hecoordinated the U.S.’ support for the Japanese Government’s response to that crisis.
During his 36-year Foreign Service career, Ambassador Zumwalt has served in avariety of assignments with a focus on Asia and international economics in Washington, Tokyo, Beijing,
Kinshasa, Dakar, and Bissau. In Washington, D.C., he worked in the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs
Japan, Korea, and Philippines desks and also at the Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs and the UnitedStates Trade Representative’s Office. He speaks Japanese, French, and some Chinese.
Ambassador Zumwalt received a master’s degree in International Security Studies from the National War
College in 1998 and a Bachelor of Arts degree in American History and also in Japanese Language from theUniversity of California at Berkeley in 1979. He is from El Cajon, California and is married to Ann Kambara, aretired Foreign Service Officer who is now pursuing a second career in social work.