On June 24, 2016, a total of 19 Gifu University board members and the officials who are supporting students' career-building joined the 11^th Local Business Inspection Tour. They included President Hisataka Moriwaki, executive directors, vice presidents and auditors.

The participants of this Local Business Inspection Tour are expected to properly assess the current status of local industries, and deepen their understanding about the regional economies for the university to contribute to the business promotion and the creation and the development of attractive job opportunities to the university students.

In the 11th Local Business Inspection Tour, the participants visited the two companies in Seki City where many university alumni are working for. They are ONDA MFG. CO., LTD and Nabeya Bi-tech Kaisha. The participants inspected the factories, etc. and exchanged opinions with the managers, engineers and the university alumni.

At ONDA MFG. CO., LTD, the participants observed the production process of brass rods by using the latest electric melting furnace at the factory, and visited the product development section where the employees are creating new technology to meet the needs of customers. At Nabeya Bi-tech Kaisha, they observed the factory system to deal with orders for a variety of items in small numbers, the machine and equipment development department for their own use, the production floor and the molding factory. These two companies are quite proactive in developing products to meet the needs of customers as fast as possible and cultivation of human resources under the clear corporate visions. The participants of the tour felt their strong sense of enthusiasm for sustainability and growth of their companies firsthand. They were also impressed by the performance of university's alumni in their workplace when they got briefed on their efforts of product development and participation in overseas training.

Gifu University was chosen to be the university to implement the Center of Community Program for local revitalization (COC+) of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. Under the program, the university is striving to develop the personnel most needed for the regions and to encourage youths to go back to their hometowns for work. The board members of the university will continue to visit local businesses not only to assess the regional situations but also listen to the voices of university alumni and discover new charms of the local industries. The participants will give feedback about their tour experiences to Gifu University to support future development of human resources and career-building of the students.