Noblesville Mayor Chris Jensen is in Japan this week, leading a city delegation that is courting two of the community's biggest corporate players, SMC Corporation and Toyota Automated Logistics. The group is visiting company leaders as they expand operations tied to a major new campus north of town, a project city officials say will deliver hundreds of jobs and a wave of private investment. The goal, according to local leaders, is to lock in hiring commitments and keep Noblesville's workforce and infrastructure front and center.
Delegation, partners and the ask
According to the City of Noblesville, the delegation includes Common Council President Mike Davis, council member Aaron Smith, Economic Development Director Andrew Murray and other staff. They are in Japan this week to sit down with leaders from SMC and Toyota Automated Logistics, with the visit framed as an "international economic partnership" that is intended to support "over 1,500 local full-time jobs" tied to the two companies. The city has also shared video of the trip on Facebook, including footage of Mayor Jensen on the ground in Japan.
What Toyota Automated Logistics is doing
Toyota Automated Logistics says it formally launched earlier this spring by bringing together Bastian Solutions, Vanderlande's warehousing business and viastore under a single brand that offers integrated warehouse automation across global markets. Per Toyota Automated Logistics and other company materials, executives joined local officials in summer 2024 for a groundbreaking on a 164-acre Noblesville campus, a roughly $165 million project that the city has labeled the single-largest private investment in its history. Company materials state that the consolidation is intended to centralize U.S. headquarters functions along with expanded operational capacity.
Jobs, SMC and local impact
Corporate documents and city descriptions say the Toyota Automated Logistics project will retain about 400 employees through consolidation and add roughly 250 new full-time positions tied directly to the headquarters relocation. When combined with SMC's existing workforce, that total underpins the city's figure of more than 1,500 local jobs connected to these partners. SMC Corporation of America moved its U.S. headquarters to Noblesville in 2009 and, according to city and company figures, has invested about $200 million into its campus to date. Local officials say the meetings in Japan are intended to reinforce hiring commitments and help ensure the new campus delivers long-term economic gains for Hamilton County.
What to watch next
Mayor Jensen has stressed that successful long-term partnerships rest on "trust, consistency and a shared vision," and city officials say updates from the trip will be shared through official channels. Residents and business watchers alike can look for more concrete announcements on the campus timeline, any incentive details and hiring targets once the delegation returns and as Toyota Automated Logistics ramps up its Noblesville operations.
