Events
Upcoming Events
To be announcedRecent Events
(by invitation only)
Chinese proverb: “The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now”. Now has become the best time for US companies to start trading in the rapidly growing China domestic market. We are delighted to have Bruce Barnet, CFO, McCue, join us for a discussion on how to set up a Wholly Owned Foreign Enterprise Trading Company to do business in China. Bruce will draw on a real case study of McCue and its experience in China and share insights into some challenging issues, concerning:
• the key steps, timing, costs, and complexities to set up a legal structure to trade in this market • multiple filings for business licenses, legal status, compliance, and even key Chops • start-up costs, capital, & banking requirements, VAT status, hiring, other
Bruce will also comment on the “surprises” – things he learned in painful ways and approaches he would adopt differently if he were to do it again.
Bruce Barnet is currently the Chief Financial Officer of McCue Corporation, a privately held, multinational company with operations in the US, Europe and China. Bruce oversees Finance & Accounting, Human Resources and Information Technology. Previously, Bruce was President and Founder of Supply Strategies; Chief Financial Officer of Ark-Les Corporation; Group Controller Speedline Technologies (Cookson Electronics); Director of Internal Audit for Cookson Electronics ($1B division of Cookson Group PLC). Bruce started his career as a CPA with Coopers & Lybrand (PricewaterhouseCoopers) in Boston.
(by invitation only)
Annual Holiday Party. Wednesday November 9, 2011. 6:00 – 8:30. RSVP, tleonard@vettecorp.com.
(by invitation only)
Alan Hed, Executive Vice President, New Balance, will take us chronologically through the years based on his different experiences in trading, setting up JV’s, investing in Emerging Markets, and doing business in China, India, Japan, and Korea.
Alan joined New Balance in late 2008. Before New Balance, Alan served as President of Levi Strauss & Co's Asia Pacific division. Alan has lived and worked in Asia, Europe and South Africa and currently resides in Massachusetts with his wife and two children.
(by invitation only)
As volatile stock and currency markets continue to yo-yo, financial planning in an interconnected global economy continues to pose new challenges as companies operate in rapidly changing, unpredictable global markets. We are delighted to have Aman Verjee, the Chief Financial Officer of Sonos, Inc., join us on Friday, September 16th to discuss:
• Five Key Lessons on Doing Business in China; and
• Financial Planning in a Global Company — Best Practices in Asia
Aman Verjee currently serves as the Chief Financial Officer for Sonos, Inc., a global consumer electronics company that builds wireless music systems for houses. Prior to joining Sonos in March 2010, Aman was the CFO of eBay’s North America Marketplace business and ran the Strategy and FP&A groups at PayPal. Aman is also the co-founder and former editor-in-chief of American Thunder, which was the nation's leading NASCAR magazine in 2004.
(by invitation only)
This is a tradeoff between balancing today's profits with tomorrow’s survival and market position, particularly in regard to technology transfer in China. We are very excited to have Tina Wang, Treasurer, Peggy Shukur, General Counsel, and Paul Kohout, Senior Tax Director, of Lionbridge Technologies join us for breakfast on June 10th.
Tina Wang , is responsible for managing Lionbridge’s initiatives regarding capital management, banking, capital investments, foreign exchange, real estate and insurance. Prior to joining Lionbridge, Wang was the Assistant Treasurer at ModusLink (CMGI)
Paul Kohout has over 20 years of experience in public accounting, the last 9 years of which were as a Tax Director for PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Lionbridge Technologies(NASDAQ: LIOX) , Headquartered in Waltham, is the leading provider of translation, development and testing solutions with offices in 26 countries and more than $400 million in revenue.
(by invitation only)
Laura J. Sen has been Chief Executive Officer of BJ's Wholesale Club Inc. since February 1, 2009 and has been its President since January 15, 2008, responsible for all day-to-day operations. Laura has nearly 30 years of experience in mass retailing, including service with Zayre Corporation and Jordan Marsh Company. She played key roles in growing BJ's from an early stage business to a Fortune 500 company.
The earthquake and nuclear fallout in Japan, coupled with the rising inflation and commodity prices in Asia, are impacting U.S. companies’ product sourcing, pricing, and logistics. We are very excited to have Laura J. Sen, CEO, BJ’s Wholesale Club, Inc. join us for breakfast on May 13th. Laura will talk about the 5 P’s – Product, Price, Place, Promotion, and People, - of the wholesale club industry in the context of Asia.
(by invitation only)
In 2003, Dr. Becker founded Cambridge NanoTech, which grew directly out of one of the foremost ALD research groups in the world – the Gordon Lab at Harvard University. In May 2010, Dr. Becker was named a Finalist in Ernst & Young’s “Entrepreneur of the Year” awards for her excellence in vision, leadership and achievement.
Asia beckons as a vast market for Massachusetts leading edge technology companies. How do you break into this market? How do you find your customers in this market? We are very fortunate to have a special guest, Dr. Jill Becker, Founder and CEO, CambridgeNanoTech, join us on April 8. Dr. Becker will share with us how she found her Asian distributors, how she likes to work with them, and how she is dealing with the issues of working with her Asian distributors. For example, her Chinese distributor copied and started selling her flagship system.
(By Invitation Only)
We will be featuring a discussion on China’s accelerating inflation, new industrial policies, and the Mid-East unrest. What are the corporate risks and strategic considerations in the context of potential social instability? Two CEOs will lead the discussion on their strategic thinking.
George Dannecker, CEO, Vette Corp. Vette Corp has marketing, manufacturing and engineering facilities in Taiwan and China.
Reinhold Hesse, CEO, Extrusion Technology, has now two manufacturing facilities in China.
(By Invitation Only)
U.S. companies going to China continue to be concerned about protecting their technologies. At the same time there are more patents filed in China by Chinese companies than those filed in the U.S. last year. Is the IP environment improving in China? How can a U.S. Company best protect itself?
Jack Daniels, Founder and President of EastBridge Partners LLC, which provides strategic on-the-ground execution of business development projects throughout the Asia-Pacific region.
Charlotte Kim, Partner at Wilson, Sonsini, Goodrich & Rosati PC., a premier provider of legal services to technology, life sciences and growth enterprises worldwide.
Jim McSherry, Senior Vice President at HUB International. HUB International provides risk management and insurance brokerage services globally.
(By Invitation Only)
What are the best ways to find, select, negotiate, and form outsourced supply chain partnerships in Asia? Stephen T. Eccles, COO, Ceralta Technologies, Inc. has initiated this discussion
(By Invitation Only)
Come celebrate the holidays! We expect a large turnout of corporate C-suite executives.
(By Invitation Only)
Mid term elections over. Fed’s $600 billion move. G20 Summit in Seoul, South Korea. China and Australia’s surprise interest rate move. The threat of devaluation and a global currency war. The confluence of such events, government policies, struggling economies, and expanding deficit are rapidly reshaping the foreign exchange market. The exchange rate movement can benefit or hurt your business. Are you prepared?
Marc Chandler joined Brown Brothers Harriman in October 2005 as the global head of currency strategy. Previously he was the chief currency strategist for HSBC Bank USA and Mellon Bank. Marc is a prolific writer and speaker and his essays have been published in the Financial Times, Barron's, Euromoney, Corporate Finance, and Foreign Affairs.
Registration: info@sbane.org. All are welcome.
Economic growth in China has been explosive over the past ten years. U.S. companies have found it to be an attractive market to sell high-value-added products and set up manufacturing facilities in the Chinese provinces. It is not for the weak at heart. We have assembled a top-flight business panel who possess a wealth of experience exporting high-value-added products to China, setting up operating plants and facilities, and navigating enterprises through unfamiliar territory and ambiguous rules and regulations. We are partnering with SBANE and sponsoring this event.
Olivia Ho Cheng, President, Aurora Imaging, North Andover, MA
Michael McGowen, Asia Pacific Counsel, Cabot Corporation, Boston, MA
Jack Daniels, President, EastBridge Partners, LLC, Boston, MA
Rick LeBlanc, President, NELCO, Burlington, MA
Kerry Scarlott, Esq., Director, Goulston & Storrs, Boston, MA
(by invitation only)
Join us for a day of fun and networking at Hopkinton Country Club. We will T off at 12:00 pm followed by a buffet reception at the end of the round where the Chamber will host an after hours networking reception for both golfers and non-golfers. By invitation only.
(by invitation only)
Dr. Overholt is a Senior Fellow at Harvard University. He formally served as Head of Strategy and Economics at Nomura's regional headquarters in Hong Kong and as Managing Director and Head of Research at BankBoston's regional headquarters in Singapore. Dr. Overholt is the author of six books, including The Rise of China, which won the Mainichi News/Asian Affairs Research Center Special Book Prize. Dr. Overholt also served as a Governor of the American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong for six years. Dr. Overholt has shared with us the international political and economic pressures the Chinese government is faced with and the tough balancing act it is conducting to maintain social stability, economic growth, and the new global leadership role that other countries have come to expect of China. Dr. Overholt has predicted a number of potential moves that the Chinese government may make on the economic and political fronts and how such moves may impact U.S. companies doing business with China.
(by invitation only)
Jing Huang joined us for breakfast from Bain Capital’s Shanghai office, which he opened in 2005. Prior to Bain Capital, Jing was Managing Director, Softbank Infrastructure Fund and SunneVision, two major, Asia-based venture capital and private equity funds. Jing gave us an overview of private equity in China. The financial crisis has greatly altered the investment landscape in China. With continuous credit constraints and a growing number of foreign PE firms in China, doing PE deals is both more difficult and more competitive. Locally, there is now more capital available through local currency based PE funds, and the establishment of ChiNex, the new “NASDAQ” of China. U.S. company executives asked Jing many questions, such as about the M&A environment in China and sources of capital for U.S. companies operating in China, and had some in-depth discussion on current capital market issues in Asia.
(by invitation only)
Following up on some spirited debates during our past meetings on IP in China and the high-level of interest, we had Michael Bunis, an intellectual property (IP) partner at Choate join us. Mike has broad experience advising companies in a variety of US-Asia IP matters and talked specifically about The U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC), touching on the questions such as "Why are companies like Apple and Samsung using the ITC to enforce their IP rights?". Company CEOs in attendance also discussed practical measures they were taking to combat IP infringement in Asia and the noticeable improvement in the IP environment in China.
(by invitation only)
Professor Yasheng Huang from the MIT Sloan School of Management joined us for breakfast and discussion. Professor Yasheng Huang has written a number of books on China, including Capitalism with Chinese Character, Inflation and Investment Control in China, and Foreign Direct Investment in China. Professor Yasheng Huang is also the founder of the China and India labs at MIT. Professor Huang shared with us his insights into the forces driving wage and labor cost increases, the brooding real estate bubble, and the new economic dynamics between the urban and rural areas in China. This gave executives much to think about in terms of adjusting their China manufacturing strategies to cope with the recent 15% labor cost increase in some areas.
(by invitation only)
The attendees shared with the group what was on everyone's mind and discussed key risk factors in managing business operations in Asia regarding the economy, currency, inflation, regulation, political unrest, and IP issues. The group also discussed the flare up of the Google-China conflict and its implications for technology firms operating in China. Also on people’s mind was China’s real estate bubble and its effect on raw material and commodity prices globally. The group exchanged useful information and contacts to further discuss risk factors pertaining to their operations heading into 2010.