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Newsletter Finnish American Chamber of Commerce, Florida
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Issue11 Volume3
November 2012
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Greetings!
as we are gearing toward the end of the year and starting to reflect back on what we have accomplish during the year 2012, we at the FACC feel pretty good to wrapped up the month of November with a fascinating cruise and marina industry event at the always beautiful Phillips Point by the Breakers. We are extremely thankful for the honor to host the Finnish Ambassador to the Unites States, Ritva Koukku-Ronde´s first official visit to Florida. I think we all found her an inspiring speaker with positive message of Finland and a good sense of humor.
Our second speaker the Executive VP from Royal Caribbean Cruise, Harri Kulovaara didn't have to travel from far, only from Miami to give us a real thorough view of the trends in the cruise industry.
And finally Ilkka Seppälä from Finland, the CEO and owner of Marinatek Group shared his vision of how pretty soon when we run out of land, all be living on floating structures, if I may over emphasize a bit. You may read more about this event here.
 | | From left: Esa Jokela FACC secretary, Lena Hartikainen FACC President, Harri Kulovaara Executive Vice President Royal Caribbean Cruise Line, Ritva Koukku-Ronde Finnish Ambassador to the United States, Ilkka Seppälä CEO and Owner of Marinetek Group, Peter Makila FACC Vice President, Heidi Uuranniemi FACC treasurer. |
Wishing you a best of the Holiday Season!
At your service,
Lena Hartikainen
FACC-FL President
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News from Florida
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Florida growers and ranchers say market conditions are better but still off the peak. " The price of sugar has been dropping for the last 20 months. We're going to have very good supplies in the United States and elsewhere in the world. It's probably going to drop our prices.", says Ryan Weston, The VP of Florida Crystals WPB. Read more here.
Black Diamond Gambling Cruises from Palm Beach now operational
Launch day is finally here for the Black Diamond casino cruise ship, which officially started service on November 7th. from the Port of Palm Beach. The Black Diamond casino will offer several gambling options, including more than 250 slots, roulette, craps, blackjack and poker. Read more here. Miami-Dade Approves a $313M Contract for 136 New MetroRail Cars An Italian manufacturer AnsaldoBreda has agreed to build a local assembly plant in the Miami area. A final decision about the parts manufacturing location hasn't been made. Either way, the plan is expected to create around 100 permanent jobs in the area, plus more temporary jobs. Read full article here. Florida Biotech Firm Secures $37.5M in Venture Capital Funding An Alachua-based biotechnology company has landed $37.5 million in venture capital funding in what is believed to be the largest private venture deal ever for an area company. AGTC is working on developing cures for rare genetic respiratory and retinal diseases. Learn more here. Florida Tourism on Pace to Set Record Visit Florida said that the Sunshine State hosted nearly 22 million visitors during the third quarter, an increase of 3.5 percent when compared with the same three-month period in 2011. Domestic travelers accounted for 18.9 million of that, a 3.2 percent increase from a year before. Read more here. University of Florida is One of The Top Performer R&D Universities University spending on research and development in all fields continued to increase between FY 2010 and FY 2011, rising 6.3% from $61.2 billion to $65.1 billion, according to FY 2011 data from the National Science Foundation's Higher Education Research and Development (HERD) Survey. When adjusted for inflation, higher education R&D rose by 4.3% in FY 2011. It should be noted that the survey population also increased from 742 universities in 2010 to 912 universities in 2011. Read the full report here.
Greater Ft. Lauderdale Attracts Films, Tv Production With Incentives
Greater Fort Lauderdale is offering $150,000 in incentives to lure more film and television productions to Broward County and boost their impact on local jobs and tourism. It's the first rebate package offered specifically for film industry production in the county, said Noelle Stevenson, film commissioner with the Broward Office of Film & Entertainment. And it builds on hefty tax breaks offered by the state for filming in Florida. Read more here. |
News from Finland | 
Finland Ranks High In a Well-being and Wealth Index
The Prosperity Index is the only global index that measures national prosperity based on both wealth and wellbeing. The index includes factors such as democratic governance, entrepreneurial opportunity and social cohesion. The index covers 96 per cent of the world's population and 99 per cent of global GDP. Read more here.
TUI Cruises Orders a Second 2,500 Passenger Cruise Ship from STX Finland
The 99,300 GRT cruise ship will measure approximately 294 meters long by 36 meters wide. The ship will have 1,250 staterooms, serve 2,500 passengers and have a crew of 1,000 persons. As with the first vessel, TUI says the newbuild will come equipped with a number of environmentally friendly features, with a particular emphasis on energy efficiency. Read full article here. Brand Finland Is Following US in Ninth position in the World Finland placed ninth this year in FutureBrand's international Country Brand Index. The country did especially well in the Environmental Friendliness category, placing second. According to FutureBrand's Country Brand Index, Finland's natural landscape is among the most beautiful in the world. Learn more here.
A New, Cost-Effective Solution for Internationalising Companies
The Helsinki Region Chamber of Commerce, the international FinnCham network and the Abonnet company have together developed an online service that aims to connect the Finnish SMEs that are in the process of establishing themselves abroad with a local advisory team, composed of Finnish expats. Read more here.
Education in Finland Ranks #1 Globally
International comparisons in education have become increasingly significant - and this latest league table is based upon a series of global test results combined with measures of education systems, such as how many people go on to university. The rankings combine international test results and data such as graduation rates between 2006 and 2010. Learn more here.
Forbes Ranks Finland Among Top 10 Countries for Business
Forbes, the American business magazine, has ranked Finland as number 9 in its annual ranking of "Best Countries for Business". The top country in this year's rankings is New Zealand followed by Denmark, Hong Kong and Singapore. Forbes determines best business countries by grading 141 nations on 11 different factors. Read more here.
Finnish Invention Reduces Plastic Packaging Emissions
VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland has developed a method in which the oil used to produce plastic packaging is replaced with renewable raw materials. A reduction of up to 70 per cent can be achieved in the carbon emissions levels for bio-based plastics when compared to oil-based plastics. Read more here.
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Traditional Finnish Christmas Party
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The second annual Pre-Christmas "pikkujoulu" celebration for you and your staff is around the corner.
Join us for a delightful and traditional Finnish Christmas dinner including raffles, friendly people, great food, and much more.
When: Friday, December 14th, 2012
Where: Lake Worth Golf Course map
Time: 6 pm. to 10 pm.
Cost: $38/Member $48/Non-member
The cost includes:
- Mulled wine (glöki) as a welcome drink
- Traditional Finnish Christmas buffet style dinner
- Entertainment and games
- Opportunity to win great raffle prices
REGISTRATION AND PAYMENTS BY DECEMBER 3rd, 2012.
You may send a check payable to FACC, Florida
at 523 Lake Ave, Lake Worth, FL 33460 or
pay online here.
Bring your whole staff and use this opportunity to show your appreciation for their hard work! Bring your staff for the same rate.
Want more visibility, donate a Raffle price with your company Logo!
DONATIONS FOR RAFFLES ARE ACCEPTED AND MORE THAN WELCOME
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FACC Upcoming Events
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Welcome to Florida - Tervetuloa Floridaan January 16th
Targeted towards new arrivals. Information about investments,
real estate, insurances, banking, car purchasing and more.
We are asking all of our member companies to please make a reservation for a booth to this event. This is a great opportunity to share what services you have to offer to the newcomers.
Place: Kerhotalo, Lake Worth
This event will be in Finnish - Tapahtuma Suomenkielinen.
Social Media Marketing Seminar February
Social media and internet marketing event for members
Golf Tournament March
Networking and golfing
Palm Beach Strategic Forum April 8-9, 2013
International economic forum
We are also working on creating a forum around education possibly in February. Stay tuned.
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Other Events
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Latin America & Caribbean Aviation Summit
December 3-5, 2012
Miami, Florida
To facilitate a high-level dialog with aviation interests in the Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) region, the U.S. Trade and Development Agency, in cooperation with the Federal Aviation Administration, will sponsor the Latin America & Caribbean Aviation Summit. Summit topics and project briefings will focus on air traffic control modernization, airport infrastructure, aviation safety and security, IT management and green airport technologies in the region. The Summit will promote specific commercial opportunities for U.S. businesses and seek to expand overall trade opportunities.
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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.
Sincerely,
Lena Hartikainen
Finnish American Chamber of Commerce
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