On November 11th & 12th, 2019, the entire TBIC community converged on Richmond, VA, for the TBIC Annual Meeting & Conference 2019. The event brought together 90 attendees, including TBIC Community and Corporate Members, Advisory Council experts and distinguished outside guests.
On Monday, November 11th, the TBIC Annual Meeting was held as a closed-door meeting for the membership to discuss both the achievements of the past year and the strategic outlook for the organization for the year ahead.
Tuesday, November 12th, saw the TBIC Annual Conference, a high-profile event on European Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the United States. Opened by representatives of our two gracious hosts the Greater Richmond Partnership (GRP) and the Virginia Economic Development Partnership (VEDP), the event kicked-off with the first panel “Transatlantic Economic Relations & FDI Trends” featuring Nancy McLernon, President & CEO of the OFII, Christopher Huppertz, Director European Affairs of TBIC, Yvonne Bendinger-Rothschild, Executive Director of the European American Chamber of Commerce New York, and Dr. Ursina Krumpholz, Minister Councelor, Head of the Economic and Business Section, Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany. The panel discussed the most important trends in the geopolitical and economic realm globally and their current and future impact on FDI flows to the United States.
The second panel discussed the “Focus Industry: Food Processing” with experts including Christopher D. Lloyd, Senior VP & Director, McGuire Woods, John Smolak, Director of Economic Development, American Electric Power (AEP), Roberta Marcenaro Lyon, CEO, Imark Holdings, and Sandra Metzger, Consultant with the TBIC. The panelists discussed both recent trends in this crucial industry for FDI in the United States, as well as some of the unique challenges European food-processing companies might face when entering the U.S. market.
After the honoring of those TBIC communities that were certified through the TBIC & Navigator Consulting “FDI-Qualified Community Program” and an extensive networking lunch break, the Conference concluded with two break-out sessions on the impact of cultural differences during site selection for international projects and workforce development, where attendees had the opportunity to interact on these two crucial aspects of economic development with participating experts in a more interactive setting.
The TBIC would like to thank all attendees for making the 2019 Annual Meeting & Conference such a success. Moreover, special thanks go out to our great sponsors: Greater Richmond Partnership (GRP), Virginia Economic Development Partnership (VEDP), Smith, Gambrell & Russel (SGR) LLP, BVMW – the German Mittelstand Association, Jesco Construction, and the SWLA Economic Development Alliance!