Report From IIUSA Annual Membership Meeting

A full recap of the entire 7th Annual IIUSA EB-5 Regional Economic Development Conference (with photos and video links) will be released next week. Today, we focus on the membership meeting and the important changes came about as a result.  

On May 7th, IIUSA held its 9th annual membership meeting which kicked off the 7th Annual EB-5 Regional Economic Development Conference. IIUSA members were treated to a rousing address from the Honorable Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Senator Leahy discussed the economic benefits of the EB-5 Program in his home state of Vermont and the promise that a permanent Program holds for the rest of the nation.

Bylaws Committee:

Earlier in the meeting, all of proposed recommendations from the Bylaws, Nominations, Budget & Finance and Best Practices Committees were adopted by the membership. These changes, to be discussed below, cumulatively represent IIUSA’s recognition of the need to evolve to be in the best position to achieve our mission by further empowering its growing membership. To review the full Annual Membership Report, click here.

1) Amendment to increase the size of the IIUSA Board of Directors from nine to thirteen members.

• The IIUSA membership approved this recommendation as a result of industry growth and the need for improved representation at the Board of Directors level.

2) Amendment to further empower and activate IIUSA

Committees and Committee Chairs

• New bylaw provision allows for Committee Chairs to appoint Committee Members and requires at least two reports a year regarding Committee mission and goals as well as a year end status report.

Nominations Committee:

1) Re-election of all existing Officers and Directors

Officers (One Year Terms)

• President: K. David Andersson, CEO, WORC Regional Centers
• Vice President: Robert C. Divine, Chair of Global Immigration Practice, Baker Donelson Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz, P.C.
• Secretary-Treasurer: Robert G. Honts, CEO, Lone Star Texas Enterprises

Directors (Three Year Terms)

• Patrick F. Hogan, CEO, CMB Regional Centers
• Tom Rosenfeld, CEO, CanAm Enterprises

2) Addition of Four New Directorships

• Angelique Brunner, CEO, EB5 Capital (Three Year Term)
• Jill Jones, General Counsel, NES Financial (Two Year Term)
• Robert Kraft, CEO, FirstPathway Partners (One Year Term)
• Chris Marlin, President, Lennar International (One Year Term)

Budget & Finance Committee:

1) Adoption of a new budget for the year starting June 1, 2014 and ending May 30, 2015

• Operations Budget with a projected starting balance of $339,337 and projected end balance of the same – with total revenues and expenditures of $787,000.

•  Government Affairs Budget with a projected starting balance of $82,882 and projected end balance of $117,882 – with total revenues of $585,000 and total expenditures of $550,000.

Best Practices Committee:

1) Industry self-regulation procedures designed to bring the ethical and professional standards applicable to IIUSA members into line with the rapidly evolving EB-5 marketplace.

• IIUSA Code of Ethics and Standards of Professional Conduct (the “Code and Standards”)
• Code and Standards Enforcement Procedures
• Complaint Form

Committee Reports 

The Membership meeting was then capped off with Committee reports delivered by committee chairs Daniel J. Healy, CEO, Civitas Capital Group (Best Practices), Lincoln Stone, Partner, SGG Immigration Law (Editorial), Kyle Walker, CEO, Green Card Fund (Membership), Angel Brunner, CEO, EB5 Capital (Public Policy), Ron Rohde, Director of Finance/General Counsel, CP Holmes (Public Relations) and Bob Honts, CEO, Texas Lone State Enterprises; Secretary Treasurer, IIUSA (Public Interest Group).