By Mike Skelton
Vice President, International Business Development
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From left to right: AK Mago, Founding Chairman
of the US India C.C.; US Congressman John Ratcliffe; Dallas Mayor Pro Tem Monica Alonzo; Prime Minister Kenny Anthony; Congressman Will Hurd; Neel Gonuguntla, President of the US India C.C. DFW; Mike Nair, President of IAUCOM; Mike Skelton; Manish Nair, COO of IAUCOM. |
Since the beginning of 2015, the Mayor’s Office of International Business has conducted 26 meetings with foreign delegations, trade organizations and international companies. Meetings were also held with the Prime Minister of St. Lucia, Consuls General of Canada, Mexico, and India and a City Council Member of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The Mayor’s Office of International Business has also been working to develop economic development relationships with ProMexico, Irish Trade and Investment, Malaysia Trade and Investment, The Greater Dallas Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, KOTRA, US India Chamber of Commerce and the Dubai World Center.
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Mr.
Yang Li , GM of American Lighting Business Unit of Zhejiang Yankon Group (second from the left) is accompanied by Associate Professor, Electrical Engineering Dept. at UT Dallas, Mr. Walter Hu (far left), with Mike Skelton and Chairman of the Richardson Chamber of Commerce Charlie Chen. Yankon LED Lighting Co. has leased space in Richardson to open their U.S. office. |
Four foreign
based companies have established offices in Richardson since the beginning of
2015, including Kathrein Scala Division, a German wireless antenna
manufacturer; E2V, a UK based semi-conductor design firm; VMN Plus, an
Argentina based software company; and Yankon LED Lighting Co., a major Chinese
LED lighting manufacturer. E2V is occupying half of the old STARTech building
on Collins Boulevard. Both Kathrein Scala Division and VMN Plus have occupied
offices in Richardson, while Yankon LED Lighting recently signed a lease but
has not yet moved in.
Two other
foreign based companies visited Richardson as part of their exploration of a
U.S. expansion location. They included a water purification company from Brazil
that focuses on oil and gas exploration service, and the other company is an
established electronic instrumentation manufacturer from China. Both are still considering Richardson for
their U.S. location.
In March, Vice President for International Business Development Mike Skelton and Director of Economic Development Sue Walker attended the South by Southwest Interactive festival
in Austin, Texas and exhibited in the Gaming Expo to promote the gaming and
animation cluster in the DFW area for possible recruitment of such
companies. Also in March, Skelton and President and CEO Bill Sproull attended the SelectUSA Investment Conference in Washington, D.C.
sponsored by the US Department of Commerce and the State Department which was a
Foreign Direct Investment forum. Companies from 70 countries attended, and
attendance was in excess of 2,400 participants. Face to face meetings were
arranged in advance with companies looking to expand to the U.S. Receptions by
various embassies and networking events also resulted in introductions to such
companies. Skelton also attended the third annual US Ignite conference that was
partnered with the GENI organization and was held later in the week following
the SelectUSA conference in Washington, D.C.