Over the past few weeks, IIUSA has been a busy on the advocacy and education front, giving presentations to diverse groups of stakeholders from the public and private sectors on the benefits of the EB-5 Regional Center Program.
IIUSA staff attended and presented at the National Association of Counties Annual (NaCo) Legislative Conference and the National Governors Association in Washington, D.C., as well as the Public Private Partnership Conference and Expo in Dallas, TX.
IIUSA Presents to the National Association of Counties (NaCo) Community, Economic and Workforce Development Steering Committee
On February 21 IIUSA had the privilege of presenting to the National Association of Counties (NACo) Community, Economic and Workforce Development Steering Committee on EB-5 as a key committee priority. Advocacy Coordinator, Nicole Merlene, gave an educational background of the Program to committee members and laid out legislative priorities for NACo to assist in. She presented alongside the Chairman and President of the Export-Import Bank of the United States, Fred Hochberg, and the Deputy Director of Investment Services, David Campbell, and Director of Outreach, Felicia Pullam, of SelectUSA at the Department of Commerce.
IIUSA Participates at Public-Private Partnership Conference & Expo in Dallas, TX
For the third year in a row, IIUSA sponsored and presented on the growing utilization of EB-5 capital in public-private partnerships at the Public-Private Partnership Conference and Expo in Dallas, Texas. P3C is one of the largest gatherings of economic development professionals in the country with over 1,000 participating attendees. Attendees came from a wide variety of industries ranging from infrastructure to higher education to city managers. The conference was successful in allowing IIUSA to expand educational resources and knowledge to other associations and industries as to how to successfully utilize the Program.
The panel, titled, “EB-5 and P3: Advantages of Alignment” included Beth Zafonte, IIUSA Association Building Committee Chair and Director of Economic Development Services at Akerman; Bob Honts, IIUSA Secretary-Treasurer and President/CEO of Texas Lone Star Enterprises Regional Center; Paul Heuwetter, Senior Vice President of Signature Bank and Allen Wolff, Associate Director of Marketing and Communications at IIUSA.
IIUSA Presents to National Association of Governors
On March 22, IIUSA Executive Director, Peter D. Joseph, and Advocacy Coordinator Nicole Merlene were able to present to the Nation’s Governor’s offices at the National Association of Governors (NGA) at their Economic Development & Commerce Committee meeting here in Washington DC. IIUSA presented alongside the Deputy Chief of the USCIS Immigrant Investor Program Office (IPO), Julia Harrison. Ms. Harrison focused on the immigration and processing aspect of the Program while Mr. Joseph was able to explain how to utilize EB-5 as an economic development tool. NGA is now the newest national government association that IIUSA has been positioned itself as a liaison between government officials and the EB-5 industry.
