WTC Atlanta Newsletter

A bi-monthly newsletter from the World Trade Center Atlanta - Issue #1 - August/September 2004

	IN THIS ISSUE
	ARTICLES 1. An Ounce of Prevention ... 2. Can You Afford to Lose Your Top Talent? 3. Annual Black Tie Gala 4. Sweden in Atlanta 5. WTCs Around the World Who's Who Services Upcoming Events


	AN OUNCE OF PREVENTION IS WORTH A POUND OF CURE. . . or Dollars to Your Bottom Line

	How do you keep your employees productive during international travel or relocation? How do employees avoid getting sick during travel? Where can travelers or expatriates go for good medical care? How do families who are relocating to another country learn about the local medical system or services? Companies should plan and prepare the employee for the new environment whether for business travel or relocation to a foreign country. Employers should be able to answer many questions: Are any shots or other preventive medicines needed for the new work location? Do the medical facilities provide a good standard of care? What are the disease risks in the new country? How do employees learn about the medical system and resources in the new area? Employers want employees to be fully productive quickly – not spending time checking out medical facilities and learning how to access medical care. The employee or family may get frustrated seeking this information for themselves and become distracted from work. In the worst case scenario families give up and return home leaving the employer with a failed assignment – costly both in lost productivity and in direct relocation and replacement costs. Industry estimates vary between $300,000 and $1 million per failed assignment. These costs come directly off the bottom line! Employees moving to the U.S. from most other countries find our healthcare system as confusing as we find theirs. Employers should provide orientation to the U.S. healthcare system for international workers moving into this country to reduce the stress and distraction for the worker and family members. Companies should identify resources and implement education and training to prepare the employee for the new environment. Some resources to consider are: the CDC website, World Health Organization website and a consultant familiar with international travel health issues. Besides preparing your employee for the new location, a company should also have a plan to handle emergencies that may occur. If an employee develops a serious illness or injury at an international location many issues must be addressed, e.g. location of the nearest qualified medical center for the medical condition, logistics of transporting an ill patient, immigration issues to leave and enter another country, and payment for medical services at foreign locations. These issues should be addressed and policies communicated to international assignees and travelers to avoid confusion and panic when an emergency occurs. Managers are very busy with day-to-day issues and may not take time to develop and implement policies that deal with contingencies that they hope will never occur. As the old saying goes, “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” Planning ahead will enable your company to have more productive employees, save time and money, minimize legal risks and better prepare your company to face the global challenges successfully. Simply stated, good preparation and planning helps protect your bottom line. About the author: J. David Clyde, MD, is President and CEO of Spinnaker Medical Consultants International, LLC, which provides occupational and travel medicine consultation, advice, and training to companies involved in global business activities. Tel: (404) 320-6009 E-mail: jdclyde@SpinnakerMedical.com Website: www.SpinnakerMedical.com

	CAN YOU AFFORD TO LOSE YOUR TOP TALENT? It’s Time to do Some Re-Recruiting

	Published in the Premier Issue of Men Looking Ahead News Magazine Atlanta 2003 A fundamental shift has been occurring with many individuals in the workforce over the past several months, perhaps even the last year or two. People have been or are reevaluating their career choices and their life choices for a number of reasons and once there is a sustained upturn in the economy, they will leave. Why? The reasons are almost as numerous as there are people in this process, however here are a few: Doing more for the same pay given recent significant downsizing in many companies. Experiencing some distrust of senior management’s intentions, and more likely, of their current supervisors, whether perceived or real. Perceived lack of commitment from their employer and/or supervisor. Perceived lack of interesting work and workplace flexibility. Perceived lack of promotional opportunities. Recent tragic world economic and geo-political events have personally and profoundly touched people like never before in recent history. Can You Afford Significant Pressure on Your Human Capital Capability? What can be of equal concern is that if current demographic trend forecasts hold true, it’s predicted that in the next 10-15 years, there will be a significant shortage of management talent. To add to this human capital pressure on your organization will be the anticipated economic upturn. This will no doubt create many job opportunities within your own company and many others. How Can You Mitigate Human Capital Risk? Start re-recruiting your current talent base and start at the top. Yes, that’s you! You might want to ask yourself the following questions: Are you committed, engaged, having fun and want to be there, most of the time? Are you the best leader you can be? Do you passionately believe in what you are doing? If the answer is no, no matter what you do, it is definitely perceived by your senior team. “Leaders are the stewards of organizational energy,” says Jim Loehr, which can have a profound positive or negative effect. Once you have decided to become truly re-engaged, now you can undertake to re-recruit your top talent. Re-Recruiting Human Capital: CONNECT with yourself. BE a great leader. CONNECT with your team. OVER-communicate, the good as well as the bad, in as many appropriate mediums as possible: Hold more one-on-one informal meetings -don’t wait for the annual performance appraisal discussion to reconnect! Hold more team meetings, even if there is no agenda and it’s for 10 minutes. ACT – and communicate your actions or inactions. SHARE your business concerns and challenges with your team – you just might be pleasantly surprised at their support and the solutions they may have. BE CREATIVE with finding solutions to individual professional needs such as: Providing workplace flexibility where it makes business sense Getting creative with ‘Job Sculpting’, providing interesting and challenging work whenever possible. EMPOWER yourself and your team. Provide RECOGNITION often when deserved. The Bottom Line: Listen, Lead, Listen, Communicate, Listen, Act, Listen, Share, LISTEN! The difference between a good leader and a great leader is his/her ability to TRULY LISTEN. Time and energy spent on re-recruiting your employees will prove to manifest a significant internal rate of return possibly in the short-term, and most likely far greater in the medium-term, once there is a sustained economic upturn. These returns will include increased productivity and decreased recruiting costs. It is imperative that leaders begin to re-engage themselves and re-recruit their employees in preparation for an economic upturn. Mitigating overall human capital risk is one critical underpinning of any organization’s sustained success. Josette R. Gauthier is President and CEO of Azion, an International Business Management Consulting firm, located in Atlanta, with affiliates in 15 countries spanning Africa, Asia, Europe (East and West), the Middle East and North America. She has several years experience providing strategic insight and solutions on human capital strategy, structure, people, process, developing the capacity for change and a competitive business advantage in large global companies and start-ups. Tel: (404) 467-7822 E-mail: jgauthier@azion.biz Website: www.azion.biz

	WORLD TRADE CENTER ATLANTA BLACK TIE GALA

	The World Trade Center Atlanta Black Tie Gala Coming this fall!

	SWEDEN IN ATLANTA

	During the 18th century, more than a million Swedish farmers immigrated to the United States in hopes of a new future. Sweden became the seventh largest immigration group in the United States. Since then, the immigration flow has continued and changed from poor farmers to rich and well-educated Swedes. The change has brought many successful connections in the cultural, social and business world. An organization that complements this change is the Swedish-American Chamber of Commerce (SACC) Atlanta. The organization encourages and stimulates commerce and cooperation between Sweden and the United States, especially in the Atlanta region. We see Atlanta as a city with excellent communication infrastructure and a well-developed business structure that offers vast business opportunities in numerous fields. The non-profit organization has about 200 members of Swedish and American backgrounds and the chamber arranges networking events hosted by membership companies and business events with high profile speakers in the area. In addition, the Swedish-American Chamber of Commerce has social functions that include an annual Lucia celebration, crayfish party and National Day Celebration. With more Swedish companies penetrating the U.S. market and an annual export increase of 3%, we would like to see more Swedish companies and businessmen come to Atlanta to help them with contacts and different events. Sweden is already well known for several multinational companies, such as SAAB, Electrolux and Ericsson. Many of them have chosen to sell and market their products/services in the United States. In the past month, SACC-Atlanta members were invited by SAAB to the Atlanta Motor Speedway for a test drive of the new SAAB 9-2X while comparing it to other competitors. Our members were very enthusiastic with SAAB and its new development and enjoyed the drive. In September 2004, the SACC-Atlanta is collaborating with Electrolux to promote their products. The Electrolux name has pretty much disappeared from the North American continent. Therefore, Electrolux is launching a major campaign to reintroduce its brand to the American public and the SACC-Atlanta is proud to be a part of this journey. Our members will get a unique presentation of their products and discounts during the month of September. The SACC believes that it is a good opportunity for the chamber to assist one of its large members. We also believe that it is important to support the smaller businesses in addition to the corporations. The multinational corporations stand for 71% of the exports to the United States and usually have a network of contacts set up in other countries. Contrary to corporations, it is usually harder for smaller businesses to establish contacts and SACC-Atlanta is willing to help. Some of the smaller business members include law offices and marketing companies. Although the Swedish immigration process has slowed down since the 18th century, the business immigration has not. Hopefully this area will continue to grow and thrive. And one way to find contacts is through the SACC-Atlanta. To find out more about SACC-Atlanta and how our organization could help your company with trade to Sweden, please visit our website at www.sacc-atlanta.org or email us at sacc@sacc-atlanta.org.

	WORLD TRADE CENTERS AROUND THE WORLD

	Office of Reciprocity established at WTCA headquarters - Program to improve mutual assistance among WTCs to be headed by WTCA executive vice president NEW YORK - In a June 2 message to all WTCA members, WTCA President Guy Tozzoli announced the formation of an Office of Reciprocity, headed by WTCA Vice President Bob DiChiara. The purpose of the new office is to improve the effectiveness of mutual assistance programs among WTCs. Emphasis will be placed on comments and suggestions from individual WTCs, and WTCs have been asked to copy headquarters (reciprocity@wtca.org) on all requests for assistance from other WTCS. Incentives will be developed to encourage improvements in reciprocal assistance, and the new office will follow-up with every requesting WTC for feedback on how each request was handled. Preparations continue for WTCA's 35th anniversary General Assembly in Geneva October 3-6 Extensive involvement of U.N. agencies planned GENEVA - WTCA headquarters staff, in cooperation with Mr. Philippe Doubre of WTC Geneva, have been working actively on the arrangements for the WTCA's 35th anniversary General Assembly to be held October 3-6 in Geneva, Switzerland. The meeting will also celebrate the 25th anniversary of WTC Geneva. Because of the many U.N. and other international institutions in Geneva, the General Assembly will draw extensively on the expertise and programs of these agencies to maximize the benefits to WTC and trade mission delegates. For example, it is expected that the Swiss Import Promotion Program (SIPPO), which is charged with helping emerging countries and countries in transition develop their export potential, will participate prominently in the schedule of events. The Geneva State Counselor has already offered the Cantonal offices and services to assist in organizing the General Assembly, and it is expected that the director general of the World Trade Organization will participate. Thus far, WTCs in France, Nigeria and Uruguay have announced their intentions to bring trade missions to the event. The plenary sessions will feature presentations by prominent speakers, and WTC Geneva, as General Assembly host, will facilitate individual business appointments during the conference. For program details, hotel arrangements, registration forms and other useful information, please visit www.wtca35ga.org. WTC San Marino inaugurated June 25 SAN MARINO - More than 500 government, business and media representatives attended the formal inauguration of WTC San Marino on June 25. Bob DiChiara, WTCA executive vice president, addressed the gathering, along with Bruno Morandi, WTC San Marino managing director; the San Marino secretary of state; and Lord Norman Foster, world-renowned architect and WTC San Marino designer. Other WTCA representatives attending included WTCA Board members Piero Piccardi and Peter Feiner, and Genevieve Fournier, European regional coordinator. The event concluded with an outstanding laser light and fireworks display. The WTC has 13,500 sq.m. of office space and 7,000 sq.m. of commercial space in two towers, plus parking for 800 cars. The use of unique materials and new technologies has minimized the impact on the environment. Among other innovations, the buildings have special blinds that can be adjusted optimally to accommodate the changing positions of the sun. Also, climbing plants will create a "green hill" that masks the parking facilities from public view.


	WELCOME

	Launch of our e-Newsletter We are pleased to launch our new e-Newsletter. Each issue will include articles by members on up to date issues and events in their business areas as it relates to conducting business internationally. The newsletter includes a Who's Who section introducing of our newest members, moves or changes by members To submit articles or to be featured or any other comments, please contact us by email at Patrick@wtcatlanta.com.


	WHO'S WHO?

	Richard Amadon, Partner Clough, Harbour & Associates LLP CHA is a multi-disciplined engineering firm specializing in Civil, Industrial, and Transportation engineering. As a partner in the firm, Mr. Amadon manages the Atlanta office of CHA and serves as project manager overseeing conceptual design through project completion on numerous projects in the Southeast. Mr. Amadon holds a Bachelor of Science from Manhattan College, and a Masters of Business Administration from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. He is a licensed Professional Engineer in Alabama, South Carolina, Virginia, Connecticut, and New York. Dex Shi, Partner GCG Technology and Investment Dr. Dex Shi is one of the owners and partners in GCG Technology and Investment. A multi-million dollar business, GCG has investment in two operations in China, MEasy Communication (www.measy-communication.com) in Shanghai and Bangjie Fine Chemicals in Hebei province (www.bangjie.net), and minor interests in a private investment bank, New Resource Investment Management in Beijing (www.newr.com) and an international project management and trade company in New York, Sonida Internationa. In 1993, Dr. Shi founded the Association of Chinese Professionals – Atlanta (www.acp-atlanta.org), now one of the most influential Chinese-American organizations in Atlanta. In 2003, Dr. Shi initiated the China Business Alliance in the World Trade Center Atlanta. Dr. Shi is now semi-retired from the daily operation of GCG’s major investments but more involved in New Resource’s investment projects in both China and US, working with the investors from both sides. Mark Towery, Managing Director, Geo Strategy Partners Geo Strategy Partners is a strategic management consulting firm focused on strategic marketing research and analysis, strategic positioning and planning, and strategic and international development. Clients include Fortune 2000 B2B corporate and economic development agencies. Clients and projects are performed throughout the U.S., Europe, Asia, and Latin America. Mr. Towery has over 20 years of international business experience as an executive with General Dynamics and as a management consultant; having lived on long-term assignments in Japan, Korea, Indonesia, Singapore, and Egypt and traveled and worked in most parts of the world. He is also advisor to the Minister of Commerce of Thailand and represents trade and investment issues for several countries in the Caribbean. Eugene Yung-Jang Chen Eugene Yung-Jang Chen is the new Commercial Division Director of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Atlanta. He formerly worked in TECO’s Miami Office as the Commercial Division Director for almost three years until his relocation to Atlanta at the end of February 2004. Mr. Chen considers himself a free trader and would like to promote more business between Georgia and Taiwan. He welcomes you to contact him for information about doing business with Taiwan. Please contact Mr. Chen at (404) 892-5095, or by email at eugenechen@trade.gov.tw Ken Cutshaw, Partner, Holland & Knight In addition to his partnership with Holland & Knight, Ken is also the Honorary Consul for India in Atlanta and an Adjunct Professor at Emory and GSU . He also serves as the director of the GSU Center for Global Business Leadership. Trevin Dye Assistant Director, Business Development JETRO Trevin Dye is our youngest member. He has recently joined the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) in Atlanta as the Assistant Director of Business Development. In this capacity, he is charged with identifying and supporting potential investors (individual and corporate) interested in entering the Japanese market. He also supports Japanese firms interested in establishing themselves in the Southeastern United States. Jetro is a Japanese government-funded organization that promotes international trade and investment.

SERVICES

World Trade Center Atlanta Conference Center
Sydney Room in WTC Atlanta Conference Center

We are pleased to announce the opening of our new Conference Center. The new facility offers the perfect setting for unforgettable events with 7,500 sq. ft. of meeting space in five finely-appointed meeting rooms along with one executive board room. The conference center features an impressive roundtable board room designed to accommodate 16 guests and an equally-stylish multi-purpose room for up to 104 guests. Additionally, the conference center combines a flexible selection of meeting space options with skilled, full-service audio/visual, catering and convention service professionals to meet your needs for both business and social events. Internet access and video conferencing are available upon request.

Please contact us about complimentary usage available through your membership.

World Trade Center Atlanta Dining

Our Dining facilities provide personalized service in a professional, upscale environment to facilitate and enhance your business operations. Whether for corporate or personal entertaining, members receive high standards of service when dining, and enjoy a variety of attractive rooms for their business or social engagements.

For reservations, please call 404-880-9595.


	UPCOMING EVENTS

	Tuesday August 3, 5:30 p.m. Europe Today: A Triple Challenge - Great Decisions Friday August 6, 5:30 p.m. An evening with His Excellency Mikhail Saakashvili, President, Republic of Georgia R.S.V.P. - (404) 261-5763 Tuesday August 10, 5:30 p.m. Muslim Diversity: Its Challenges to U.S. Policy Tuesday August 17, 5:30 p.m. Middle East Political Reform Wednesday August 18, 5:30 p.m. International Atlanta Networking Evening Tuesday August 24, 5:30 p.m. U.S.-Latin American Relations post-9/11 Tuesday August 31, 5:30 p.m. Public Diplomacy and U.S. Foreign Policy For further information please visit our online calendar at www.wtcatlanta.com


	CONTACT US

	World Trade Center Atlanta 303 Peachtree Street N.E. Lower Lobby Suite 100 Atlanta GA 30308 Phone: 404-880-1562 Fax: 404-880-1564 Email: patrick@wtcatlanta.com URL: http://www.wtcatlanta.com © 2004. All Rights Reserved.