German companies seeking to expand in the U.S. are keen to know more about Connecticut, according to Gov. Ned Lamont.
The governor and the Department of Economic and Community Development's Daniel O’Keefe were in Munich, Stuttgart, and Berlin, Germany, last week to promote Connecticut businesses.
Lamont said at a media briefing on the trip in New Haven on Tuesday that many of the German business people they met had never heard of Connecticut.
“People don’t know Connecticut,“ Lamont said. “When Ben and I were in Stuttgart, they had never seen a governor before, and we had to spell Connecticut for them. Now they know Connecticut.”
He said the goal is to attract more business to Connecticut because many foreign companies are concerned that U.S. trade policy might change following November's election.
“They think Washington is a little tricky right now. So, I think they welcome having governors from both sides of the aisle come. And I like going to places where they haven’t seen a governor in a long time because it gives us a big running head start,” Lamont said.
Germany is Connecticut’s largest export market, with $2.1 billion in sales in 2023, or about 13% of all exports.
Germany is also the state’s number one source of foreign direct investment, with more than 100 German companies with operations in the state.
