EB-5 INDUSTRY FORUM 2016
The 6th Annual EB-5 Industry Forum
October 10 – 11, 2016
Westwood, CA
The 6th Annual EB-5 Industry Forum is the year’s premier EB-5 conference focusing on educational and business development on a global scale.
On October 10-11, Invest in the USA (IIUSA), the national not-for-profit industry trade association for the EB-5 Regional Center Program held its 6th Annual EB-5 Industry Forum on the campus of the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) in Westwood, CA. Attended by international investment and economic development professionals from around the world, the EB-5 Industry Forum featured panels on legislative and regulatory activities that would shape the future of the EB-5 Program.
Guest of Honor Speakers

LEARN ABOUT IIUSA EVENTS

DOMESTIC EVENTS

INTERNATIONAL EVENTS

DIGITAL EVENTS

Julia Harrison
Deputy Chief, USCIS
Immigrant Investor Program Office (IPO)

Michele W. Layne
Regional Director U.S.
Securities and Exchange Commission Los Angeles Regional Office

Rep. Michael McCaul
U.S. Representative (R-TX, 10th District)
Chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee

Charles Oppenheim
Chief, Visa Controls Office
U.S. Department of State (DOS)

Julia Harrison
Deputy Chief, USCIS
Immigrant Investor Program Office (IPO)

Michele W. Layne
Regional Director U.S.
Securities and Exchange Commission Los Angeles Regional Office

Rep. Michael McCaul
U.S. Representative (R-TX, 10th District)
Chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee

Charles Oppenheim
Chief, Visa Controls Office
U.S. Department of State (DOS)
Conference Video Recordings
View Exclusive Content from the 2016 EB-5 Industry Forum! IIUSA members access the video recording for FREE (click here to view discount code).
Conference Schedule
9:00am – 10:00am – Case Studies Seminar Session #1: Capital redeployment
Panelists:
- Ronald Fieldstone, Partner, Arnstein & Lehr LLP;
- Enrique Gonzalez, Partner, Fragomen, Del Rey, Bernsen & Loewy, LLP;
- Daniel B. Lundy, Partner, Klasko Immigration Law Partners;
- Joe McCarthy, Principal, American Dream Fund;
- Julia Park, Managing Director, Advantage America EB-5 Group
10:00am – 11:00am – Case Studies Seminar Session #2: Project Marketing & Investor Market Diversification
Panelists:
- Mona Shah, Principal, Mona Shah & Associates
- Edward Beshara, Managing Partner, Beshara P.A.
- Irina Rostova, Partner, Rostova Westerman. Law Group, P.A.
- David Appel, Senior Partner, Tax & Business, Marcum LLP
- Jeff Carr, President, Economic and Policy Resources
- Bruno L’ecuyer, Chief Executive, Investment Migration Council
11:00am – 12:00pm – Case Studies Seminar Session #3: Law Enforcement & Litigation
Panelists:
- Michael Homeier, Founding Shareholder, Homeier & Law, P.C.
- John Pratt, Partner, Kurzban Kurzban Weinger Tetzeli & Pratt P.A.
- Chris Robertson, Partner, Seyfath Shaw LLP
- Russell Weigel, Principal, Russell C. Weigel, III, P.A.
10:00am – 11:30 am – IIUSA Committee Meetings (Invite-Only*)
Five of IIUSA’s 12 standing committees will meet in the morning session.
Committees include: Banking, Compliance, Editorial, Public Policy and Technology
*IIUSA Members can sit in on any committee meetings, however prior notice is required. If you are interested, email us at [email protected].
12:00pm – 1:30pm – Welcome Luncheon*
Catch up with old friends and make new ones at IIUSA’s welcome luncheon. All ticketed participants will be allowed to join this gathering.
*IIUSA Leadership Luncheon held separately, followed by IIUSA Board Meeting.
2:00pm – 3:30pm – IIUSA Committee Meetings (Invite-Only*)
Five of IIUSA’s 12 standing committees will meet in the morning session.
Committees include: Association Building, Best Practices, Investor Markets, Membership, and Public Relations
*IIUSA Members can sit in on any committee meetings, however prior notice is required. If you are interested, email us at [email protected].
1:45pm – 2:30pm – EB-5 Due Diligence Seminar Session #1: Immigration Due Diligence
Panelists:
- Dawn M. Lurie, Shareholder, Polsinelli LLP
- Peyman Attari, Co-founder, President & CEO, AISA Investment Advisers
- Angelo Paparelli, Partner, Seyfarth Shaw LLP
- Michael Kester, Economist, Impact DataSource
- Rachel Zou, Chairperson, Lianhong Overseas Consultants Service Limited
2:30pm – 3:15pm – EB-5 Due Diligence Seminar Session #2: Investor Fund Protection
Panelists:
- Kurt Reuss, Co-founder and Advisor, EB5 Diligence
- Dan Smith, President, Trident Fund Services
- Jim Gamble, Vice President-Director of Construction Management, Tetra Tech, Inc.
- Jay Rosen, Partner, Arnstein & Lehr LLP
- John Shen, CEO, Regional Centers Holding Group
3:15pm – 4:00pm – EB-5 Due Diligence Seminar Session #3: Compliance with U.S. Securities Laws
Panelists:
- Rupy Cheema, Co-founder and Senior EB-5 Business Analyst, EB5 Diligence
- Mariza McKee, Partner, Kutak Rock LLP
- Russell Scarcela, Director of Investigative Due Diligence and Business Intelligence, BDO USA LLP
- Michael Fitzpatrick, Partner, Baker Tilly Virchow Krause, LLP
- Christian Moore, COO, Global Verification Network
- Robert V. Cornish Jr, Partner, Phillips Lytle LLP
4:00pm – 4:45pm – EB-5 Due Diligence Seminar Session #4: Return of Capital and Exit Strategy
Panelists:
- Rupy Cheema, Co-founder and Senior EB-5 Business Analyst, EB5 Diligence
- Rob Lee, CEO, Elite EB-5 Solutions
- Bill Gresser, Director Emeritus, IIUSA; President, EB-5 New York State, LLC
- Scott Barnhart, Economist, Barnhart Economic Services
- Jonathan Bloch, Shareholder, Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck LLP
4:45pm – 5:00pm – I-829 Award CeremonyÂ
5:30pm – 8:30pm – Evening Reception (Bel Air Country Club)
Address: 10768 Bellagio Rd, Los Angeles, CA 90077
Shuttle service will be provided to and from reception.
Download the conference schedule in PDFÂ here.Â
7:00am – 4:30pm – Registration & Exhibits
8:00am – 9:15am – General Session:Symposium #1 – EB-5 Legislation and Regulatory Reform
Panelists:
- Peter D. Joseph, Executive Director, IIUSA
- Hans Rickhoff, Senior Council, Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP
- Hunter Bates, Principal, Republic Consulting, LLC
- Dan Healy, Director, IIUSA; CEO, Civitas Capital Group
- Tom Loeffler, Senior Council, Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP
- Stephen Strnisha, Secretary-Treasurer, IIUSA; CEO, Cleveland International Fund
- Matt Virkstis, Practice Group Attorney, Greenberg Traurig, LLP
9:20am – 10:00am – Guest of Honor Presentation: Julia Harrison, Deputy Chief, USCIS Immigrant Investor Program Office (IPO)
10:00am – 10:30 am – Networking Break/New & Potential Member Coffee Break
10:30am – 11:15am – Breakout Session #1
Issue Spotting in EB-5 Legislation for Regional Centers
Panelists:
- David Andersson, President, IIUSA; President, Whatcom Opportunities Regional Center
- Nima Korpivarra, Partner, David Hirson & Partners, LLP
- Bob Kraft, Director, IIUSA; President, and CEO of FirstPathway Partners
- John Tishler, Partner, Sheppard Mullin, Richter & Hampton LLP
Issue Spotting in EB-5 Legislation for Investors
Panelists:
- David Chen, Partner, Visas Consulting Group
- Michele Franchett, Partner, Stone Grzegorek & Gonzalez LLP
- Cletus Weber, Co-Founder and Senior Attorney, Peng & Weber, PLLC
- Mina Tran, Founder, Tran Law Group
11:15am – 12:30pm – Breakout Session #2
Practical Issues in Project Management in Uncertain Times
Panelists:
- Michael C. Gibson, Partner, Bass, Berry & Sims PLC
- Chad Ellsworth, Partner, Fragomen, Del Rey, Bernsen & Loewy, LLP
- Ali Jahangiri, CEO, EB5Investors.com and EB5Investors Magazine
- Mark Roberts, VP, Specialty Banking Manager, Alliance Bank of Arizona
- Steve Shpilsky, Co-Founder, CaRE EB-5 Regional Center
Practical Issues in Marketing to Investors in Uncertain Times
Panelists:
- Kevin Wright, Principal, Wright Johnson LLC
- Robert Whyte, Managing Partner, Whyte & Co
- Grant King, Managing Partner, Hollywood International Regional Center
- Devin Williams, President, EB5 Global
- David Enterline, Partner, WTW – Taipei Commercial Law Firm
12:30pm – 1:30pm – Lunch
1:30pm – 2:15pm – Guest of Honor Presentation: Michele W. Layne, Regional Director U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Los Angeles Regional Office
2:15pm – 3:15pm – General Session:Symposium #2 – EB-5 Program Integrity
Panelists:
- Lincoln Stone, Partner, Stone Grzegorek & Gonzalez LLP
- Osvaldo Torres, Founder, Torres Law, PA
- Reid Thomas, Executive Vice President, NES Financial
- Mary King, COO, New York City Regional Center (NYCRC)
- Dave Souders, Director, IIUSA; Broker, Todd & Associates, Inc.
3:15pm – 4:00pm – Guest of Honor Presentation: Charles Oppenheim, Chief, Visa Controls Office, U.S. Department of State
Moderated by:
- Robert C Divine, Vice President, IIUSA; Shareholder, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz P.C
- Lee Li, Policy Analyst, IIUSA
4:00pm – 5:00pm – General Session:Symposium #3 – Visa Capacity
Panelists:
- Bernard Wolfsdorf, Partner, Wolfsdorf Rosenthal LLP
- Patrick F. Hogan, Director, IIUSA; CEO and Managing Member, CMB Regional Centers
- David Hirson, Partner, David Hirson & Partners, LLP
- Kristal Ozmun, Partner, Miller Mayer LLP
- Kyle Walker, Director, IIUSA; CEO, Green Card Fund, LLC
5:00pm – 5:15pm – Closing Remarks & Conference Concludes
Download the conference schedule in PDF at here.
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Become a Member
IIUSA members benefit from access to state-of-the-art tools, networking opportunities, educational events, and insights into the latest trends in the EB-5 industry. For over a decade, IIUSA has served as the unifying voice of the EB-5 Regional Center Industry, representing and connecting thousands of diverse stakeholders who contribute billions of dollars of economic development and job growth in the United States through EB-5 investment. Interested in learning more about the many benefits of IIUSA membership?