News from Finnish American Chamber of Commerce

Finnish American Chamber of Commerce Newsletter

December 2011

Issue 12 Volume 2

Greetings!

here we are again, preparing for the Holidays and finishing up another year. We hope this year has been successful to you and that 2012 will bring many new opportunities to your way.

The economical indicators, at least partially are starting to look promising with lower unemployment rate and higher consumer confidence.

Please take a look at the event we are organizing for you during 2012 and how you want your company to be seen at these events. We hope to see you at many of these events.

With this we wish you and your company a very successful year 2012!

At your service,

FACC-FL board

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News from Palm Beach News from Miami

Enterprise Florida

Economic news from Florida

SOUTH FLORIDA UNEMPLOYMENT DROPS TO 10 PERCENT

South Florida's unemployment rate dropped to 10 percent in October from 10.7 percent in September. The state's unemployment rate hit 10.3 percent in October, down from 10.6 percent in September - the lowest unemployment rate in 28 months.

While the change in unemployment rates may seem painfully slow, unemployment in South Florida is down 1.8 percentage points from October 2010.

AEROSPACE COMPANY TO MOVE ITS HEADQUARTERS FROM CALIFORNIA TO FLORIDA

JT Power, a major San Diego-based provider of aircraft and jet engine parts is moving their operations to Boynton Beach. Their new location at the Quantum Corporate Park.

For the past five years, JT Power has operated a six-person sales office in Delray Beach, but it is moving the rest of the company here from California.

The reasons for this move according to Ian McDonald, executive vice president of operations; "The pool of people available for hire and the operating costs. It's 30 percent less here."

CALL CENTER JOBS TO BOYNTON BEACH

In addition to the JT Power, another big deal coming to Boynton Beach is Advanced Communication Group (ACG). The company just leased 25,000 square feet from a building on Quantum Boulevard for the call center. More about both Boynton deals here.

DOWNTOWN WEST PALM BEACH GAINING A NEW CORPORATE HEADQUARTERS WITH 91 NEW JOBS

LYF Holdings, which makes vitamins, shakes and health drinks under the iChoice brand, just signed a lease for 10,000 square feel of offices right downtown, at 510 Evernia St.. The Community Redevelopment Agency approved an incentive package that includes $72,800 from the city and $291,200 from the state for LYF Holdings. In return they promise to bring 91 jobs and a new corporate headquarters downtown West Palm Beach from Washington, D.C.

FLORIDA NUMBER 5 IN TOP TEN STATES
Even that Florida is still struggling to emerge from the collapse of the real estate and construction market, which hit the once booming cities of the Sunshine state particularly hard it shows many signs of hope. read more

CONSUMER CONFIDENCE HIGHER, BUT NOT IN FLORIDA

Americans' confidence in the economy in November rose to its highest level since July, but Florida did not share in the rebound.

The Conference Board, a private research firm, said Tuesday that its Consumer Confidence Index rose 15 points to 56. That is up from a revised 40.9 in October - the lowest level since the recession - and the biggest jump since the 59.2 reading in July. read more

GAS PRICE FALLS DESPITE THE HOLIDAYS

Gas prices remained on a downward spiral last week, despite a projected 38 million Thanksgiving travelers, as fuel demand lags and European financial troubles weigh down oil prices. read more

News from Finland

FINLAND LOOKING FOR IDEAS ON HOW TO ATTRACT FOREIGN INVESTMENTS

The Ministry of Employment and Economy in Finland has opened a forum to submit ideas on how Finland can attract more foreign investments. However, the website is in Finnish only??! (I guess they don't want foreigners to submit ideas?) Anyhow, if you are interested to give your feedback submit your ideas by December 9 here.

A NEW PHARMA AND LIFE SCIENCE WEBSITE SHOWCASING FINNISH EXPERTISE LAUNCHED

Tekes Pharma programme has launched a new website, www.pharmafinland.com, to market Finnish expertise in the field of pharmaceuticals and life sciences. The new site will improve the visibility of Finnish actors to international companies and research groups of the field looking for partners and expertise in Finland.

FINNISH PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS ARE COMING UP

National Coalition Party candidate Sauli Niinistö remains the favourite in the presidential race. All of the other candidates are in the single digits. The True Finns' Timo Soini is in second place with nine per cent, the Centre Party's Paavo Väyrynen gets eight per cent, and the Social Democrats' Paavo Lipponen gets seven. This means that support for all three contenders for the number two spot falls within the three-point margin of error. read more

FINNISH CONSUMER AND BUSINESS CONFIDENCE REMAINS WEAK

Statistics Finland said in a statement Monday that its consumer confidence indicator had scored +1..5 points in November versus +1.3 points the month before and +20.8 points in the year-ago period. read more

THE GRAND OPENING OF THE CHRISTMAS SEASON - Finnish Style

Rovaniemi is the official hometown of Santa Clause and is christmassy all year round. The highlight of the year is end of November when the Christmas season is officially opened. read more

FACC-FL upcoming program for 2012

JANUARY, 19th - Thursday

Real Estate & Insurance Seminar

Place: Benvenuto Restaurant,

1730 North Federal Highway

Boynton Beach, Florida 33435

Time: 12noon - 3 p.m.

Price: $35.00/members and $45.00/non members

Including 3 course lunch plus valuable information about Real Estate investments and Insurance.

Several experienced real estate and insurance agents will be sharing their tips and insight on what is going on in the real estate and insurance market.

Just the purchasing process with Foreclosures, Short Sales or even with regular purchase process is so much more complicated than in Finland. Please invite your friends to this event too!

Registration and Payment: By January 2nd, on our website here or by mail.

FEBRUARY, 17th - Friday

Investors & Tax Seminar

Place: Phillips Point by The Breakers, West Palm Beach, FL

Time: 12pm - 2pm

Price: $50 member and $55 non-members

Registration and Payment: Non-refundable payment must be received by Feb. 2nd

Price include full buffet style lunch and valuable information from highly accredited speakers.

Focus on international tax, employment visas, and investment opportunities in Florida.

Speakers: Her Excellency Ambassador Ritva Koukku-Ronde from the Finnish Embassy, Washington D.C., Martin Cass, international tax expert from Alpern Rosenthal, Harry Polatsek, an experience immigration lawyer from Polatsek Law Firm, Gary Hines from the Palm Beach Business Development Board.

Sponsorship opportunities available starting with $100.00

FEBRUARY 18th-19th, FINLANDIA DAYS

FACC is participating with a booth at the Finlandia Days festivals. Please come and visit us at the "Tori" Marketplace. More information about the event can be found at the link below.

If you are interested in participating in the Tori, you can download vendor forms and information from www.finlandiadays.com or call 561-317-3278.

MARCH, 11th

Minnesota Orchestra and Osmo Vanska concert at Kravis

APRIL, 16-17th

Palm Beach Strategic Forum. Currently working on securing high end keynote speakser(s) from Finland.More information and registration at

http://pbstrategicforum.com/

As a FACC member you have the opportunity to be part of organizing and sponsoring some of these events and get exposure to your business.

Email us at info@facc-fl.com for more information.

If you are not a member yet, check out our new website for benefits and join our growing group!!

Introducing a New Member

Welcome Finlandia Days as our newest member. Below interesting facts about the fatal that has been around over 20 year now.

FINLANDIA DAYS

Back in the early 1980s, the Finns in Southern Florida decided it was time to hold a local festival to celebrate the heritage of the 15,000 or so Finns living in Palm Beach County and the thousands of Finns visiting or living in the area during the winter months. They organized a planning committee, and in 1984, started an annual tradition that continues well into the 21st century.

The festival was a success; there was plenty of music, dancing, children's activities, and a Tori marketplace. The following years brought musical groups from Finland and Tori vendors from all corners of the U.S. and Canada. All of the Finlandia Days workers are volunteers, and we thank them for their commitment to keeping the festival going year after year.

Throughout the years, the name of the festival and festival organizers changed, but the festival continued. Until the early 2000s, the festival was held at Bryant Park on the Intracoastal Waterway in Lake Worth. However, with the rapidly increasing costs of security and amenities to meet code requirements, a decision was made that the two Finnish halls in the area, Kerhotalo (American Finnish Community Club) and Suomi Talo (Finland House) would join together to manage the festival activities.

This year, festival events are held at both halls, rotating from one hall to the other every other year. F

Throughout the nine days, Feb. 11-19, 2011, there are plenty of dances, movies, exhibits and other events to enjoy. More information about the event here.

Finlandia Days Co-chairmen:

Kari Repo, Kerhotalo President

Tapio Salin, Suomi Talo President

We hope you find this newsletter useful and we love to get feedback and suggestions how we can make it better. We also have many volunteer opportunities within the chamber so let us know how you want to be involved.

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LinkedIn and join the discussion.

Sincerely,

Lena Hartikainen
Finnish American Chamber of Commerce