Does the name Motoshi Yamada ring a bell? How about Margo Markopolous?

Yamada is the managing director of the State of Illinois Asia-Pacific Office. Markopolous is deputy director of the state’s Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, leading the agency’s trade and investment efforts.

Neither name comes first to my mind when thinking about key state government figures, but they and a few dozen others are on the radar in light of the 55th Midwest U.S.-Japan Association’s conference, which ended Tuesday in Tokyo.

Illinois and nine other states sent dozens of delegates to the three-day session. The DCEO’s numbers speak to a successful partnership: In 2024, Illinois sent $2.5 billion in goods to Japan – only eight countries bought more – and imported $7 billion. More than 400 Japanese companies have offices here, providing more than 56,000 jobs.

DCEO puts those numbers in an international context through a handy two-page chart summarizing the annual snapshot. Perhaps you knew the top 15 counties by employment combined to represent 2,682 businesses with 11,232 locations and 552,695 employees, but I will admit it was all new to me during some Monday morning research.

On the flip side is the 1,260 Illinois firms that have some sort of international presence. They account for 20,386 locations and 950,813 employees. (If you guessed McDonald’s was No. 1 with 157,508 jobs, award yourself three bonus points. And two more if you pegged United Airlines at No. 2, with 105,255).

U.S. Customs and Border Protection provides information from bills of lading to the Census Bureau, which uses an “Origin of Movement methodology” to generate export statistics. Cash receipt information from the U.S. Department of Agriculture also factors in (because commodity traders and logistics outfits might show as the exporter of record, muddying information about where the products originated), but altogether, the state touts itself as the largest exporter in the Midwest and fourth among all states.

I say all this not to praise DCEO or the Japanese summit specifically, but more so as a reminder (to myself, if nothing else) that for all the attention given to elected officials and political posturing, there is much more to the broader concept of “government” and even more so to the overall role of the state and its people on the national and world stages.

There’s always reason to be wary of bureaucrats seeking credit for the successes of private entities. But outcomes like this rely at least in some part on public investment, be that in educating the workforce, building and maintaining transportation infrastructure, or offering taxpayers’ dollars (directly or otherwise) as financial incentives.

Much of this work goes unnoticed or obscured by flashier topics, but it’s vital to fueling the state’s economic engine.

• Scott T. Holland writes about state government issues for Shaw Local News Network. He can be reached at sholland@shawmedia.com.