April 2014 - German American Business Chamber

Transcription

April 2014 - German American Business Chamber
German American Business Chamber of South Florida
April Newsletter 2014
Greetings from the GABC President
Dear Members and Friends,
Spring has sprung and is upon us, still a couple more months before we get to our steamy,
rainy summer, so enjoy...
I do not know about you, but recently I did not see too many bad news about our business
environment. The European Union seems to hum along and also our economy is improving. The bad news are coming to us from other sides. As a baby boomer from Germany I
consider myself part of the 'lucky generation', because we were in fact the first generation
of Germans who grew up without a war. The wars my generation has seen never involved
Germany and/or Western Europe and it was my believe that in these times of globalization,
major conflicts at least in Europe are a thing of the past. Obviously the Ukraine scenario
proves there is still the potential for disaster, if the politicians do not keep their cool. Global
warming is a fact we just learned and even the denial fraction agrees now, although they
question the reasons for it. This should be, and certainly is, a major concern for us here in
Florida where a regular spring tide is already generating flooding in some streets in Miami
Beach, and every passing year it will get worse.
Real estate prices are up, condo sales are heading into a new boom, unemployment rates
go down, so there is a lot of good news business wise and I hope you are able to participate and be successful.
What we could use is some more business to/from Germany or German companies settling
down in South Florida. Together with the Consul General we try to think about activities on
how to promote this.
Of course it could help if our elected officials would once in a while also look East, rather
than only looking South. If one of the top economies in the world, Germany, is pretty much
ignored this is not smart. Here is hoping that the talks between the EU and the USA regarding a trade agreement will move forward and down the road create more opportunities
for all of us in South Florida as well.
Sincerely,
Michael K. Claus
President
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German American Business Chamber of South Florida
April Newsletter 2014
Upcoming GABC Events
European Networking Event
April 3rd - Nothing but the Best, 2525 SW 3rd Ave, Miami 33129
6pm - 8pm
Other Upcoming Events:
The International Economic Forum Of The
Americas presents:
The Palm Beach Strategic Forum - Shaping
the Global Agenda - 4th Annual Conference
April 7th-8th
Palm Beach County Convention Center
ten free tickets are available exclusively for
GABC members (first come, first serve)
more info: http://forum-americas.org/
palmbeach //
Contact: [email protected]
(please contact the GABC for details/ tickets)
GABC Events Outlook
The ABICC and it’s bi-national chambers of
commerce present:
Annual Tennis Tournament
At the Crandon Tennis Center
Saturday, April 12th
more info:
www.abicc.org/events.htm //
Contact: [email protected]
May: The Distinguished German-American
Award of Excellence - Details TBA
June 19: Half-day conference with exhibition
and networking presented by the GACC South
and the GABC at The Banker’s Club Miami Topic will be to increase awareness, knowledge
and understanding of the EU in the United
States and how important the EU-US relationship is. Details TBA
The Dranoff International 2 Piano Foundation
presents:
Jazz Squared on April 19th
The South Dade Cultural Center
GABC members will receive an exclusive discount. Please contact the GABC for more info.
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April Newsletter 2014
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German American Business Chamber of South Florida
April Newsletter 2014
Upcoming Events
The Dranoff 2 Piano presents its third
concert of the season with the theme
Jazz Squared - a jazz concert for 2
pianos - on Saturday, April 19, 8:00
p.m. at the South Dade Cultural Center. The unique program will feature
works by Gershwin, Dizzy Gillespie,
Bill Evans and Aaron Copland. Moreover, it will be the premiere of Martin
Bejerano’s “Fantasía de Tres Mundos
for 2 pianos” (Three Worlds Fantasia), a new two-piano work commissioned by the Dranoff in conjunction
with Bacardi U.S.A., Inc.
There is a special offer to members of
the GABC - 2 tickets for the price of
one.
Duo Stephanie and Saar has been
praised by The New York Times for
its “beautifully understated performances.” The Huffington
Post acclaimed the duo’s interpretation of Bach, while observing they
were “drop-dead gorgeous.” Saar
Ahuvia, a native of Israel, and
Stephanie Ho, of Taiwanese descent
and brought up in Portland, are married and live in New York City.
The Miami-born Bejarano heads the
jazz piano program at the University
of Miami. He records and tours with
the ensembles of drummer Roy
Haynes and guitarist Russell Malone. In 2007, he released his chart-topping album Evolution/Revolution.
His Dranoff commission pays homage to his roots in Afro-Cuban music, American jazz and the European
classical tradition.
“The “Bacardi Choice” commission reflects the Bacardi commitment to creativity in music – in our being
part of a celebration of life, our core philosophy about supporting the arts, and our passion for helping Miami culture flourish,” says Robert Furniss-Roe, Regional President of Bacardi North America. Both the
Dranoff and Bacardi are Miami-rooted institutions. The Bacardi family has a long history of philanthropic
support of the arts, including helping to spark some of Cuba's most important popular music. Everything
pointed to a Bacardi/Dranoff connection that would be enriched by Miami's strong Cuban heritage.
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German American Business Chamber of South Florida
April Newsletter 2014
New Trustee Member:
Since 1890, when the company was founded in Bremen/ Germany by August Kuehne and
Friedrich Nagel, Kuehne + Nagel has grown into one of the world's leading logistics providers.
Today, the Kuehne + Nagel Group has more than 1000 offices in 109 countries and over
63,000 employees providing sophisticated Supply Chain Solutions for both Sea-, Air- and
Road freight.
Kuehne + Nagel is also one of the U.S.' largest Customs Brokers and Contract Logistics
providers.
With five locations in Florida alone and own offices in the Caribbean as well, Kuehne + Nagel
is proud to be close to all importers and exporters which value the benefits of a global network, but look for a personalized local service at the same time.
contact: Mr. Thomas Schmied [email protected] // website
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German American Business Chamber of South Florida
April Newsletter 2014
New Trustee Member:
Lehtinen Schultz Riedi Catalano de la Fuente, PLLC, is a service-oriented boutique law firm
with a diverse practice group, including commercial litigation, land use, municipal and real estate law. Our clients include high net worth individuals, small and mid-sized companies, as
well as institutional, municipal and non-profit entities. We specialize in German-speaking clients.
Our real estate and land-use practice covers both land owners and regulators, including the
Village of Wellington in Palm Beach County and the Village of Palmetto Bay in Miami-Dade,
as well as numerous developers and landlords throughout South Florida. We have active litigation practices in Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach, Collier, Monroe and Lee County, and
we practice at all trial and appellate levels in state and federal courts. The Firm also maintains an arbitration and alternative dispute resolution practice.
Claudio Riedi is dual Swiss/American citizen, grew up in Zürich, and advises clients on commercial litigation, corporate law, real estate and municipal law. Tom Schultz is a wellrespected litigator and arbitrator, and has extensive experience as receiver in complex cases.
Dexter Lehtinen is the former U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida and a former
state representative and state senator for Florida. He is married to Congresswoman Ileana
Ros-Lehtinen, and litigates in state and federal courts. John Catalano handles a wide-range
of real estate transactions, including acquisitions, financing and commercial leasing. Bob de
la Fuente has a broad land-use, zoning and municipal practice and advises several non-profit
organizations.
contact: Mr. Claudio Riedi [email protected]
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German American Business Chamber of South Florida
April Newsletter 2014
New Basic Member:
Straws & Stripes (Florida-Drinking-Straws) specializes in a wide variety of drinking straws custom or simple straws.
Straws & Stripes stocks several million drinking straws, allowing them to ship purchases
within the U.S. in 48 hours or internationally in 7 business days.
Customized color, size, and diameter for your drinking straws can be produced in as little as 3
weeks with a minimum order quantity of only 10,000 pieces.
Their unparalleled quality and advanced warehouse has made them one of the top leading
drinking straw manufacturers to date. Their modern sales and production processes allows
them to produce any volume of drinking straws and retain prompt delivery to their customers.
No matter if customers need 1, 100, or 1,000 cartons of drinking straws, Straws & Stripes is
the number one choice for quality and professionalism.
Their customer base primarily includes the beverage industry together with restaurants,
hotels, bars, night clubs, and cocktail lounges.
contact: [email protected] // website
Straws & Stripes, LLC
160 Venetian Way #106
Merritt Island, FL 32953
Phone: (321) 766-5608
Fax: (321) 574-2697
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German American Business Chamber of South Florida
April Newsletter 2014
New Basic Member:
Hirzel & Dreyfuss P.A.
Hirzel & Dreyfuss, P.A. focuses on representing the interests of small businesses. The firm
provides its business clients with cost-effective access to legal counsel at a flat monthly fee
for a fraction of what would be paid to a lawyer to handle a single issue. The firm's "outhouse" general counsel plans cover the day-to-day legal issues of running a business, such
as legal consultation on business issues, debt collection, contracts and document review to
help protect the company, contractor-supplier disputes, hiring and firing employees, commercial real estate and equipment leases, and employee confidentiality issues.
The firm also handles litigation and arbitration matters concerning franchise, licensing, and
distribution law, complex commercial litigation, trademark and intellectual property law, unfair
competition law, defamation and slander, restrictive covenants, employment law, and fraud
and unfair and deceptive trade practices.
more info and contact: website
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German American Business Chamber of South Florida
April Newsletter 2014
New Basic Member:
The Body Contour Company LLC
The Body Contour Company in the heart of Coconut Grove offers holistic body energy work,
holistic skin care products and Power Plate exercise. Karoline Smit, the owner of The Body
Contour Company and founder of ELEWA holistic skin care, is a registered healer by the International Natural Healer Association (INHA), a certified Power Plate coach and a certified
professional Life Coach. Karoline moved to Miami in 2011, she left Germany where she
worked as a registered nurse, medical proved esthetician, massage practitioner and personal
Power Plate Coach.
The offered services are: Life Coaching for women, Holistic Pulsing Quantum Touch, Lymphatic drainage, Natural Lypolisis (NARL517), Blue and Red Light sessions, Power Plate, and
Bach Flowers. Further services are personal life coaching, body energy work, and skin care
products.
Benefits of the services include body detoxing, maintaining a healthy lymphatic system, immune boosting, keeping body, and mind and spirit in balance and shape.
contact: website
New Basic Member:
Silcarbon Activated Carbon LLC
Silcarbon Activated Carbon offer a complete service around your activated carbon application: supply of filters in various sizes, supply of filter units for both water treatment (pressure
filters) and air filtration (pe filters and drum filters), service around the filter unit, exchange of
used activated carbon, return of spent carbon for further treatment as well as technical service. Silcarbon supplies their customers with helpful technical know-how.
More info: website
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German American Business Chamber of South Florida
April Newsletter 2014
Get the 2013/2014 German American Chambers National Membership Directory!
The German American Chambers have launched the 2013/2014 Membership Directory!
The hard copy directory is published once a year and contains all member companies of all
German American Chambers of Commerce in the US including all chapters and affiliates.
Navigate through 2,500 member companies linked to our offices
in Atlanta, Chicago, Houston, New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco, and the GABC Miami using our index of industries.
The directory's structure is based on industry categories, closely
resembling the Yellow Pages, enabling you to find your contacts
quickly and efficiently. Employee-specific contact details give you
phone, fax, email, street address and website. An index organizes firms by industry.
Over 6,000 key decision-makers in government and industry
across the U.S. and Germany will use the Membership Directory
throughout the year. Issues are available at the GABC office now.
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German American Business Chamber of South Florida
April Newsletter 2014
GABC & GACC Offering Virtual Business Representation Services
The GACC South is now able to offer business representation services in Florida through its cooperation with the GABC Miami.
The GACC South’s business representation services establish a gateway between companies in Germany and the U.S. to support German businesses with their activities in the U.S. market. The GACC
South creates business presences by offering clients an official address and a dedicated telephone
number, as well as the GACC South’s full-time consulting staff serving as the primary point of contact.
Depending on the specific industry focus of clients, members are afforded these extensive resources
in Atlanta, Houston, or the newly added location in Miami.
The German company Müller Messebau, a manufacturer of trade show booths, is one of the first clients taking advantage of the services offered by the GACC South in cooperation with the GABC in
Florida: “As a trade show booth builder, we were looking for a location in the Southeastern United
States, since the trade show market is noticeably shifting to this area. One of the main reasons we
chose Florida as a location were fiscal considerations. For this undertaking, we found an experienced
partner with the GACC South, who can provide us with expertise in many fields above and beyond the
business representation services, and can support us with its network.”
For more information please contact the GABC office.
IS - German Program Coming to Coral Gables
Beginning the 2013/2014 school year, the Henry S. West Laboratory Elementary School in Coral Cables will be opening a new IS German Program. The classes are open to students with native speaking background as well as children with no German speaking experience. Children will be taught German on a daily basis with students being able to use, learn, and experience German on a native
speaker level.
ATTENTION: Parents who have already signed up their students through Miami Dade School District,
please send your application directly to the school so your child can be registered.
For questions as well as application information please contact Barbara R. Soto Pujadas at [email protected]
Do you have a story for our next newsletter? We want to hear it! To submit a story
for next month’s edition please send an email to: [email protected]
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German American Business Chamber of South Florida
April Newsletter 2014
Take Advantage of GABC Member Benefits
GABC Members receive great discounts while dining,
traveling, shopping and much more. We are pleased to
announce that the benefits list is continuing to expand.
The German American Business Chamber shares all
member discounts with other European Chambers in Miami including: the Italian American Chamber of Commerce, the Spanish-US Chamber of Commerce, the French-American Chamber of Commerce, the Dutch Miami Chamber of Commerce, and the British-American Business Council
Miami. Thus, the list of benefits has grown tremendously.
The list of member discounts for all businesses is available for members in the member login
area at http://gabc.us/members.php
Make sure to check out the updated list of benefits on our website!
Exclusive Benefits
One example of a GABC benefit:
ratiokontakt
GABC members will receive an exclusive 50% off on hosting packages and 25% off of servers. These discounts apply to the monthly price and are for the lifetime of the contract. Not
valid with other discounts. Must provide valid GABC membership card.
Contact: (305)504-7000, www.ratiokontakt.com, [email protected]
- must provide valid GABC membership card
If you are interested in offering discounts to the members of the GABC Miami and other European Chambers in Miami contact us for more information at [email protected]. We look forward
to working closely with all of you in making your business more visible through all the options
that the GABC can offer to you.
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German American Business Chamber of South Florida
April Newsletter 2014
New GABC Membership Fees: Valid as of October 1st, 2013
Extra
Benefits
Service &
Discounts
Listings &
Directories
Networking
Corporate
Exposure
Membership Levels / Benefits
Company logo featured on print and electronic media
Company logo displayed on GABC homepage with link to
your own website
Exposure on GABC social media sites
Complimentary or discounted entry to events
Allowed number of individuals entitled to complimentary
entry or discounted entry at GABC events
Opportunity to host a seminar or "After Hours"
networking event
Company listing in the German American Chamber of
Commerce national Member Directory
Company listing and access to the GABC online
membership directory
Maximum number of contacts listed in GABC online
membership directory
Electronic newsletter advertising discounts
Complimentary company introduction in the electronic
GABC newsletter
Purchase German American Chamber of Commerce
national Member Directory and Directory of German
Subsidiaries in the US at reduced prices
Access to exclusive discounts at local businesses including
discounts offered by other European Chambers in Miami
One vote at the GABC Board of Directors election
Access to member exclusive events
Complimentary job posting on GABC website
PRIVATE
BASIC
CORPORATE
TRUSTEE
INDIVIDUAL
($300)
($500)
($750)
($150) (1-5 employees) (6 and more employees)
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German American Business Chamber of South Florida
April Newsletter 2014
New Edition of German American Trade
Available Now!
The newest issue of GAT is now available on the GABC
website. GAT is a joint publication of the GACC and Representative of Germany + Industry (RGIT). It spotlights
members as well as other economic, cultural, and political
news stories.
Find the new issue here.
GABC Career Services
The GABC offers complimentary job postings and internship assistance to business
members.
For more information on fees for non-members or to have your job posting published,
please contact the GABC through email: [email protected] or by telephone: 305-3714282
Web links to German American Associations and Clubs:
GIPA: German International Parents Association
http://www.gipa.org/
German Consulate General Miami
An Affiliate of:
http://www.germany.info/Vertretung/usa/
de/03__Konsulate/Miami/00/__Start.html
GASC: German American Social Club Miami
http://www.germanamericanclub-miami.org/
German Ministry in Coral Gables
The GABC of South Florida is an official affiliate of the GACC South.
Find more information on the GACC:
http://www.smlccg.org/custompage2.php
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German American Business Chamber of South Florida
April Newsletter 2014
_________________________________
GABC™ Official Platinum Sponsor
_________________________________
GABC™ Trustee Members
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