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| Finnish American Chamber of Commerce Newsletter |
March 2012
Issue 3 Volume 3 |
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Greetings!
the consumer confidence seems to be steady in Florida with numbers staying at the previous years level. However, with gas prices creeping up for the summer, it is yet to be seen what the summer will bring to the market.
We are confident that the many positive economical news we have seen in the past year in our region, will continue to push Florida to the right direction in creating jobs and increasing the opportunities for everyone.
At your service,
FACC-FL board
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MEMBERSHIP NEWS
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NEW MEMBERS
The Spehar Firm P.L. is a boutique law firm formed by its Principal member Henri Spehar. The Firm re-located to West Palm Beach from Atlanta in 2011. Henri Spehar has law degrees and work experience from both Finland and the US. He has worked with international businesses in Finland, Georgia and Florida. Seen the complex interplay between foreign perceptions and local law from both sides of the Atlantic. Therefore, he is uniquely positioned to understand the needs of businesses and individuals with ties to both Finland and the US. Deep understanding of private international law, Finnish law and Florida law gives Mr. Spehar ability to analyze internationally mobile clients situation from multiple angels, and suggest possible "out-of the box" solutions.
Henri Spehar, 801 Northpoint Parkway, West Palm Beach, FL 33407. Tel. 561-800-4014
RENEWING MEMBER
KK CAR - SELLING, RENTING AND EXPORTING CARS since 1981.K.K. Car Co., Inc has satisfied 1000's of customers around the globe! We offer competitive pricing on late model cars, vans, trucks and SUV's. Centrally located in Lake Worth, FL, we will thrive to exceed your expectations.
We offer vehicle shipping around the globe, specializing in Northern Europe. If your vehicle is in the Continental US, we can arrange transportation of your vehicle to our location to be forwarded to your international destination. In 30 years, with hard work and uncompromised customer service, Eila and Osmo Sikanen´s business has grown to a group of three companies that smoothly complement each other.
929 So. Dixie Hwy, Lake Worth FL 33460
Tel. 561-585-1731
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Economic news from Florida | 
FILING PATENTS - ACT NOW!
The Leahy-Smith America Invents Act (AIA) was signed into law by President Obama last fall. This is said to be the most fundamental change to the United States patent system since 1952. It revises the U.S. patent system from a "first to invent" standard to a "first to file" standard, effective March 2013. There is some fear that it will put individual inventors and small businesses at a disadvantage in the patent process. More about AIA here.
FLORIDA CONSUMER CONFIDENCE STEADY
"The pattern of consumer confidence over the last three months is exactly the same as it was a year ago," said Chris McCarty, the Survey Director. "From December 2010 to February 2011 the overall level of confidence went from 70, to 77 then 76, the same as this year. In March 2011 confidence fell four points to 72 and declined steadily until August.
Gas prices have risen over 25 cents in the past month and are likely to top $4 a gallon by the summer. Continued tensions with Iran could push prices much higher than that by the end of the year. Read the full report here.
THE TIGER FACTOR FOR THE PGA NATIONAL STILL WORKS
Many factors are creating the buzz around Woods that brings big crowds and large profits. The fact that Woods now owns a home in the neighborhood on Jupiter Island brings out lots of locals. The chance to watch a man once on a pedestal in his quest back to the top is another draw, said Gary Ferman, media director for the Honda Classic.
"I've worked with Muhammad Ali, Michael Jordan Dan Marino. Never have I seen an athlete able to move the needle like Tiger Woods. People want to come and root for him. They want him to succeed," said Ferman.
NOT ALL PAINKILLER NEWS ARE BAD NEWS
Scientists at the Scripps Research Institute in Jupiter were awarded a $3.1 million federal grant to search for more effective painkilling drugs.
The joint principal investigators on the five-year study funded by the National Institutes of Health's National Institute on Drug Abuse division are Laura Bohn, an associate professor in the department of molecular therapeutics and neuroscience, and Thomas Bannister, an assistant professor in the department of chemistry and associate scientific director in the Translational Research Institute at Scripps.
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News from Finland | |
Finnish Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja met with Hillary Clinton in Washington
Minister for Foreign Affairs of Finland, Erkki Tuomioja, met with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in Washington D.C. on Thursday 16 February. This was the first bi-lateral meeting of the Ministers and the issues discussed included the future of Afghanistan and the situations in the Middle-East and Northern Africa.
NEW PRESIDENT, BUT NO REVOLUTION
Finland's new president Sauli Niinistö was inaugurated March 1st. Niinistö's election marks an end to the three-decade grip of the Social Democrats on the presidency. Haavisto's surge to the run-off stage of the elections formed another first: He became the first Green Party candidate to progress to the second round. He was also the first openly gay presidential candidate. Niinistö's nephew Ville Niinistö chairs the Green Party and is minister of the environment in the present government. What does the future hold? Read more here.
Rovio and Nokia award winners at the Mobile World Congress Rovio's Angry Birds game and Nokia's C3-00 were both awarded prizes at the Mobile World Congress held in Barcelona on February 28th.
Angry Birds Rio was named Best Mobile App for Consumers at the Awards Gala while the Nokia C3-00 was named best basic phone. More here.
Scientists at Univerity of Jyväskylä and at Harvard find new way to make nanomaterials
Researchers at the NanoScience Centre of the University of Jyväskylä and at Harvard University in the United States have discovered a new way to make nanomaterials.
Using computer simulations, the researchers have predicted that long and narrow graphene nanoribbons can be rolled into carbon nanotubes by means of twisting. More here.
The leading Finnish daily adopting a tabloid-size format
The leading Finnish daily newspaper, Helsingin Sanomat, is going to adopt a tabloid-size format next year. The Finnish broadsheet newspaper is following the lead of British and Nordic newspapers, like The Guardian and The Times. According to Helsingin Sanomat, the renewal means that the paper will become more compact and have more pages.
- In the past few years, Helsingin Sanomat has been developed in many ways. Our goal is to build a newspaper of the future to correspond with the changing lifestyles and media use of people, says Mikael Pentikäinen, Publisher and Senior Editor-in-Chief of Helsingin Sanomat.
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Minnesota Orchestra with Osmo Vanska at Kravis
|  Don't forget to get your tickets to Minnesota Orchestra, with Osmo Vanska as a conductor. March 11th, 2012 at 8pm
Program to include:
Brahms / Variations on a Theme by Joseph Haydn,
Op. 56a
Sibelius / Violin Concerto in D minor, Op. 47
Beethoven / Symphony No. 5 in C minor, Op. 67
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| PALM BEACH STRATEGIC FORUM |
APRIL, 16-17th
Palm Beach county Convention Center
The Palm Beach Strategic Forum is presented by the International Economic Forum of the Americas. Its mission is to address the major governance challenges of the new world economic order, focusing on the central role of the Americas and in the global market.
The objective of the Palm Beach Strategic Forum is to foster a better understanding of opportunities and challenges at stake for the Americas in the Global Market. The Forum also seeks to provide a platform for business meetings in a broad spectrum of sectors, including banking and finance, and to foster economic development
FACC is happy to announce that Dr. Dan Steinbock, a Research Director, India China and America Institute (USA), Shanghai Institutes for International Studies (China), EU Center (Singalore) will be one of the keynote speakers at the event among many other highly credit speakers.
More information about the event and registration at here.
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ABiCC World Business Month
|  Inauguration of the ABICC World Business Month 2012, with wine, food and liquor tasting. Date: Monday April 30th, from 5;30pm to 8;30pm. Please save the date.!
As a member of FACC you are automatically a member of a large pool of business people in S. Florida. You are also a member of ABiCC, the Association of Bi-National Chambers of Commerce in Florida and welcome to join any of their networking events. |
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.
Find us at Facebook , Twitter and
LinkedIn and join the discussion.
Sincerely,
Lena Hartikainen
Finnish American Chamber of Commerce
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