Columbus 2020 will continue its emphasis on business attraction beyond Ohio and the U.S. with the help of a $300,000 grant from JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Building on a partnership forged last year through the Columbus Global Connect program, the bank’s foundation announced the two-year grant to make Central Ohio more competitive in recruiting businesses on the world stage by funding “global fluency” classes as well as Columbus 2020’s general expenses, the public-private economic development group’s CEO Kenny McDonald said.

“This grant helps us a lot in terms of having the resources to go and do that work around the world,” McDonald told me. “I would say it has a tremendous impact. It allows us to do all kinds of things here – buy plane tickets, gas money – to get around and talk to these companies.”

The Columbus Global Connect program mapped out a plan to vault Central Ohio into the top 25 metropolitan areas for exporting by 2020, up from its current rank of 38th.

McDonald said the grant from JPMorgan Chase (NYSE:JPM), one of the region’s largest employers with about 20,000 workers, will help fund training sessions put on by Columbus 2020 and the Columbus Council on World Affairs.

Economic development officials from the city of Dublin, Ohio State University and other Central Ohio communities and organizations have attended the classes prior to international business trips.

McDonald said the initiative is important because foreign-owned companies account for nearly half of Columbus 2020’s business-attraction pipeline.

“We need to have the tools and acumen to deal with these companies,” he said.