Mayor discusses recent business trips to Japan and Germany

Mayor Scott Furgeson provided an update at Monday’s Shelbyville Common Council meeting on recent trips to Japan and Germany by city officials.

Three council representatives – Mike Johnson, Chuck Reed and Linda Sanders – traveled with the mayor, clerk treasurer Scott Asher, Shelby County Development Corporation Executive Director Brian Asher, and former council member Rob Nolley to Japan to meet with companies that have facilities in Shelbyville.

“We spent a week in Japan and visited with PK USA, Yushiro Chemical, KN Platech, Ryobi, Kimura and RISU and spent two days in our sister city (Shizuoka City),” said Furgeson. “We had very successful meetings with all the companies we met with. They were very cordial.”

An annual business trip to Japan is part of the city’s budget. Furgeson believes the trips are crucial to the international relationships the city has cultivated with Japanese companies.

“I’ve been doing this for 14 years now. I will always go to Japan as long as the budget allows me to,” said Furgeson. “Those are monies we budget every year to travel. They are not vacations.”

RISU America opened its first plant in the United States in September in Shelbyville (photo). That relationship was created on a previous trip by city officials to Japan.

While in Japan this year, city officials learned of RISU America spending $750,000 to run three advertisements in Tokyo’s equivalent of the Wall Street Journal. It is considered an unprecedented move for a Japanese company.

“They let everyone in Japan know what they are doing in Indiana and what they are doing in Shelbyville,” said Furgeson, “so it’s pretty impressive that they did that.”

“Their ad showcased the building here in Shelbyville,” stated Sanders.

Once finished in Japan, Furgeson, Nolley and the Ashers traveled on to Germany for more meetings and a first ever visit to Knauf.

“It was the first time anyone from the City of Shelbyville ever visited Knauf,” said Furgeson. “That’s kind of insane for a company that has been in our community for 51 years – and we’ve never gone over to meet with them. We got to meet the head of Knauf Industries and took a nice tour.”

The trip coincided with the NFL hosting the Indianapolis Colts and Atlanta Falcons for an international game in Berlin on Nov. 9. The NFL experience overseas brought the Greater Indianapolis Chamber of Commerce and the Indiana Sports Corporation to Berlin for events that the Shelbyville contingent was able to attend.

“While in Berlin, we attended four different events with the chamber,” said Furgeson. “We are always trying to put ourselves in front of people and make ourselves better and get more acquainted with people.”

The visits to Japan and Germany produced 15 meetings and heightened awareness for the Shelbyville and Shelby County communities.

“I will always take the criticism. I don’t mind that,” said Furgeson. “I believe it’s great for our community and it’s great for our industry to let them know where we’re at, where we stand and that we care about their business and what they do for our community.”

In addition, the mayor provided updates on two city projects.

The demolition earlier this year of the dilapidated buildings (photo) at the intersection of Broadway and Harrison streets went well. There was concern for the building that houses the Strand Theater but those have not arisen.

The back wall of the businesses that reside south of Broadway have been the main concern.

“Once we got the structure of the Adams Paint building down, we ended up with a wall not stable,” said Furgeson. “We had to go into those shops and build a wall inside those shops. Now we have torn down the (unstable) wall on the outside and we will build a new wall on the outside. We had to stabilize it because the wall that was there was not going to be stable. We couldn’t leave it an unsafe building.”

The mayor also stated the North Riley Highway project which includes the construction of two roundabouts is scheduled to be completed by Dec. 1.

“I think everybody in our community will be glad when it’s done,” he said.

The mayor opened the common council meeting Monday reading a proclamation declaring November 2025 as Indiana Working Women’s Recognition Month.

Furgeson was joined for the proclamation reading by several members of the local chapter of Shelbyville Business & Professional Women (photo) that was established 98 years ago.

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