2012

Mr. Yuji Moteki: Miyota Town has developed over the years thanks to the support we have received from local business over a long time. In the past several years, the largest seven companies have accounted for a combined 13% of all municipal tax revenues, including corporate and property taxes. Of those seven largest corporate taxpayers, Minebea alone accounts for about 30% of tax revenues.

Currently, our population stands at about 15,000 people, but we have a goal of increasing that to 20,000 under our "20,000 Park Town Concept" aimed at revitalizing the community and its economy. We would love to see more Minebea employees purchase and rent homes in our town. To that end, we would appreciate having the town introduced to your employees as a great place to live, perhaps through your in-house magazine.

Mr. Yasuyuki Orimo: Currently, about 200 of our employees are living in singles dormitories in the town, and another 50 families are living in company housing here. Under the company rules, single employees must move out of the dormitory after 12 years of residence, and other employees must move out of company housing after 15 years. We would like to cooperate in promoting the qualities of Miyota Town to those employees. You are already providing us with posters on events in the town, and we would like to actively place them in the cafeteria and other prominent places around the company facilities.

Mr. Masayuki Imanaka: We publish an in-house magazine twice a year. The Corporate Communications Office is responsible for the magazine, and they publish CSR-related articles in each issue. The CSR Promotion Office is also involved and we will collaborate with all the parties to promote the town.

Mr. Toyohiko Uchibori: The town's administration is implementing a number of excellent welfare, education and other policies to ensure we can compete with the surrounding municipalities on quality of living. Also, town land is relatively cheap compared to other areas. We would appreciate it if Minebea could promote those advantages.

Mr. Noboru Watanuki: At the same time, it would be great if Minebea could find more opportunities to introduce its business and products to the community. The people of Miyota are very proud to host the mother plant of an illustrious global company which has been here since 1963. You have a very large presence in our community. Even though we all know Minebea is an amazing company, many people do not know exactly what the company makes. If, for example, your products were exhibited at Miyota Station, the gateway to the town, people from out of town could learn a lot and the town's children could also discover that this is a company that makes parts for Boeing airplanes, for example. It would also encourage young people to dream of working at Minebea here in the future.

Mr. Masayuki Imanaka: We agree that it would be very effective for townspeople to get to know our products better. The train station is operated by Shinano Railway, so we would appreciate the support of town administrators in arranging exhibits there.

Mr. Noboru Watanuki: I believe your plant draws not only visitors from Tokyo, but customers, salespeople and representatives of subcontractors from all over the world. The town would benefit greatly if those visitors patronized local eateries and other businesses. Additionally, Miyota is well known for its buckwheat noodles, leaf vegetables, and other foods, and the regular use of these by your employee cafeteria would also be beneficial for the town.

Mr. Yasuyuki Orimo: Just as you mentioned, between 30-50 people visit our plant daily. We will place maps of the town showing local eateries and other shops so that people can easily stop by.

Mr. Eiichi Kobayashi: The employee cafeteria is operated by an outside company, and we will begin discussions with that company soon. Regarding sundry goods we use within the plant, for goods that can be procured locally, we will study whether or not we can switch all of the procurement to local goods.

Mr. Takeshi Sasazawa: In regard to the parts you use in your products, it would also be beneficial to the community if you procured these parts locally. Minebea may produce many of the parts for its products internally, but could you tell us how many local companies you procure from, not just in Miyota, but in Saku City, Komoro City and other local municipalities?

Mr. Eiichi Kobayashi: We do not have any major local suppliers, but there are many smaller local suppliers we work with. We have a basic policy of actively outsourcing business.