Brooklyn's Progress
March 2004

By Steve Kaplansky

Baruch College’s Weissman Center for International Business and 30 other co-sponsoring organizations under the direction of Betsy Shieh of NEXCO hosted a reception and expo, “Meet Your International Business Partners” recently, which brought together powerhouse executives from the international business community.  For the first time, Brooklyn Goes Global was represented at this fantastic gathering of over 250 prominent trade associations, financial institutions and other international trade business organizations representing several countries including Switzerland, Italy, Mexico, Africa, Japan, Canada and Hungary.  All in attendance were thrilled to see Brooklyn represented.

The Consul General of Switzerland, Ambassador Raymond Loretan was the Keynote Speaker, after which he had an opportunity to visit the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce resource table.  Other representatives on hand included Abby Cadle of the United States Department of Commerce, and Herb Austin of the Small Business Administration.   The guest included both small businesses and large corporations.  Many talked about their Brooklyn roots, or they had a Brooklyn story to share.

Brooklyn’s Progress, the Chamber’s monthly newspaper, flew off the table as the attendees wanted to catch up on the latest scoop about Chamber activities and Brooklyn business.  The event was quite successful and the networking and discussions of the day will enable the Brooklyn Chamber to provide fantastic information to share with its Members.