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SABC Fall Newsletter 2018
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Platinum Members
Gold Member  
Silver Members    
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 You are cordially invited to the ….
SABC Annual Christmas Dinner and Fundraiser
Thursday, December 6th, 2018
Cocktail Reception beginning at 6:30pm
Dinner and Program following at 7:30pm
The Peninsula Chicago, 108 East Superior StreetChicago, Illinois 60611
Tickets are $165 for SABC Members and $195 for Non-Members. 
Admission includes reception, a three-course dinner and wine. Dress code: Business.
The Christmas Dinner is a long-standing tradition of the SABC and is a great opportunity for the Swiss-American business community to celebrate the holiday season, see old friends, meet new friends and to bid for unique auction items.
The event is the primary fundraiser for the SABC and vital to continuing the SABC’s overall mission. A portion of the proceeds will also be donated to a local charity.
If you wish to become an event sponsor, please send an email to events@sabcnow.com for more information.
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SABC Young Professionals Network Wine Tasting and Dinner at Winestyr held on October 10th The Winestyr team shared their experience of building the wine business from the ground up and served well-paired wines with dinner in their relaxed lounge space. The SABC wishes to thank Marc Lacher and his firm William Blair for hosting this memorable event. Please find pictures from the event below.
 
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SABC Innovation Initiative in collaboration with Barry Callebaut held on September 6th. One of the goals of the SABC Swiss Innovation Initiative is to feature innovative Swiss companies which are based in Chicago and the Midwest. On September 6th, Barry Callebaut hosted SABC members at their Region Americas head office in downtown Chicago. Barry Callebaut Group is the world's leading manufacturer of high-quality chocolate and cocoa. They are the heart and engine of the chocolate industry employing about 11,000 people operating out of more than 30 countries. Barry Callebaut has comprehensive competencies in the art of making chocolate and cocoa products - from sourcing and processing cocoa beans to producing the finest chocolates, including chocolate fillings, decorations and compounds. It was a fascinating presentation on the world of chocolate, supply chain, innovation and sustainability. Being able to taste their latest product “Ruby Chocolate” was a delight. A warm thank you to Philipp Muheim, Franziska Lacher, and Darko Suman for the superb organization. Please find pictures from the event below.
  
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SABC Swiss National Day Reception on August 1st at the Mid-America Club.
The SABC hosted our annual Swiss National Day Reception on top of Chicago's iconic Aon Center. We had an excellent turnout this year with more than 110 attendees. We wish to thank the great Swiss-American community for its strong support of this annual event. For more pictures of the event, please visit the SABC's photo gallery. Please find pictures from the event below.
  
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 SABC Directory 2018-2019
We are proud to announce the new edition of the SABC Business Directory of the US Midwest, the leading resource of Swiss business interests in the Chicagoland area. It is available online, and there is a limited amount of printed copies available. http://sabcnow.com/sabc-directory/
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 GISC Ribbon Cutting Ceremony
The German International School Chicago cordially invites you to a Ribbon Cutting Ceremony on Thursday, October 25, 2018, from 4:30 pm - 6:30 pm to celebrate their move into a new and larger school building as well as their 10th year of operations. For more information, please go to https://germanschoolchicago.com/invitation-gisc-ribbon-cutting-ceremony/.
Laternenfest & St. Martin's Parade
Please save the date for the German International School Chicago's Annual Laternenfest & St. Martin's Parade on Saturday, November 10, 2018, from 3 pm - 9 pm. More details and ticket info to follow at https://germanschoolchicago.com/topic/laternenfest/.
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 Serata Ticinese 2018
October 27 @ 7:00 pm - 10:00 pm
Niedersachsen Club House, 4548 N Lincoln Ave,Chicago, IL 60625
Serata Ticinese Our serata Ticinese will be held for the 6th time this year. As Swiss we represent all of our regions and therefore we decided 6 years ago to introduce a Ticino Night. Our Menu: Insalata Mista (mixed salad) Luganighe Ticinese (Italian sausage) Risotto ai Funghi (risotto with mushrooms) and Desert. Member $25 Guest of member $30 Non-member $40. Register here
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  Ride the World’s First Solar-Powered Cable Car!
A new cable car that carries passengers up to the top of the Staubern mountain in eastern Switzerland has become the world’s first to run on solar power. The Staubern solar-powered cable car, which is being inaugurated in the beginning of April, transports passengers from the Rhine Valley up to the Staubern restaurant and guesthouse at an altitude of 5906 ft. / 1,800 m, situated between cantons St. Gallen and Appenzell Inner Rhodes.
  
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Reishauer Celebrates its 230thAnniversary
It started in 1788 with a modest smithy in the city of Zurich, hammering out hand tools for the local craftsmen. Today, the company has come a long way - from hand tools to complex gear manufacturing systems. This system’s approach encapsulates this philosophy as Reishauer’s Circle of Competence, which encompasses machines tools, grinding wheels, diamond tools, automation, and gear technology, all made in Switzerland.
The focused efforts across this time span have steadily built Reishauer’s success and have made it the leading company in its field of hard finishing high-precision gears for automotive and aircraft transmissions.
The company understands that success is the result of the dedication and passion of its employees. To thank all of them, the Board of Management decided to celebrate in big style. Employees were flown in from the US, and other countries, to acknowledge their input together with that of their Swiss colleagues. A full day of many activities - from sailing, flying glider planes, wine tasting, off-road driving, mountain biking to sculpting stone – culminated in a large party at Zurich’s Lake Side convention center, where all participants enjoyed dining, conversing and dancing into the night.
As we all celebrated the past 230 years, we could also look forward to the future as the Board of Management had decided a few weeks ago to invest in building a new factory on the present site in Switzerland. The foundation for future celebrations has been laid!
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Legal Insight - Choice of Entity for a Startup Business After Tax Reform
When an entrepreneur makes the decision to form a legal entity for a new business in the United States, the choice of legal entity generally comes down to a limited liability company (LLC) or a corporation. Prior to the 2017 tax reform act, an LLC generally had significant tax advantages over a corporation. Nevertheless, many startups organized as corporations for reasons of simplicity and perceived financing advantages. After tax reform, the tax advantages of an LLC over a corporation have narrowed, which may reinforce the decisions of entrepreneurs to choose a corporation as the legal entity for their new business ventures.
For more information on the advantages and disadvantages of using an LLC versus a corporation as a legal entity, click on below link:
http://www.btlaw.com/Choice-of-Entity-for-a-Startup-Business-After-Tax-Reform-08-30-2018/
Barnes & Thornburg’s Global Services Group counsels Swiss and other European entities engaged in business in the United States in corporate, immigration, regulatory, intellectual property and other legal matters. Our clients gain access to more than 600 legal professionals throughout 14 offices across the country. We are among the 100 largest U.S. firms and have experience in virtually all the legal practice areas required to do business in the U.S.
SABC board member Will Turner has more than 20 years advising domestic and international companies in a wide range of industries on U.S. commercial and transactional matters. If you have questions, please contact Will Turner.
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IMTS 2018: In the Rearview Mirror
The recent IMTS in Chicago was an amazing six days filled with engaging conversations, knowledge sharing, and for many of us, reminiscing with long-time friends. IMTS is the largest and longest running manufacturing technology trade show in the United States, and 2018 brought record-breaking crowds and exhibitors.
The BIG KAISER exhibit included new products and technology developed by BIG KAISER Switzerland, including the digital EWE finish boring heads. The EWE line features a digital display to show incremental movement of the cutting edge, and uses Bluetooth® Technology to pair with the BIG KAISER App. Feedback from the boring head shows the expected output from the tool and signals operators to make a diameter correction based on the tolerance and the last measured bore produced by the tool. We are honored the EWE finish boring heads received an IMTS Product Innovation Honorable Mention.
As the dust settles from this show, we have already started planning to make IMTS 2020 even bigger and better than this year.
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 HEULE Precision Tools Exhibits at IMTS 2018 in Chicago
Team members from HEULE North America met in Chicago with representatives from HEULE Switzerland for the International Manufacturing Technology Show during the week of September 10-15, 2018. The company exhibited at the show, displaying their line of precision cutting tools for deburring, chamfering, spotfacing, and countersinking. The traffic at the booth was steady with interested attendees at the show, which boasted record attendance at over 129,000. HEULE tools are used by major manufacturers in the automotive and aerospace industries, as well as others including medical, heavy equipment, and energy. They are manufactured at the factory in Balgach, Switzerland and distributed worldwide through subsidiaries in North America, South Korea, China, and Germany.
Left photo: Ulf and Rita Heule from Switzerland with North American President Gary Brown (middle).
Right photo: Sales staff were kept busy at the IMTS show which had record attendance.
 
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LNS Acquires ChipBLASTER
The LNS Group has acquired Meadville, Pennsylvania-based ChipBLASTER, Inc. the maker of high pressure coolant systems, coolant chillers, cyclonic filtration systems and other machine tool peripherals.
“ChipBLASTER is a market leader in the U.S. high-pressure coolant industry and is a natural fit into our machine tool peripheral product portfolio.” said Jeff McMullen, LNS North America CEO. “At LNS we plan to leverage our global sales and service network to sell ChipBLASTER’s technologically advanced products on a worldwide basis. A common thread running through both companies is the goal of helping manufacturers optimize the efficiency of their machine tools to improve performance, productivity and profitability.”
ChipBLASTER President, Greg Antoun adds, “We’re excited to join the LNS family. Both companies continuously advance machine tool peripheral technology, create products of the highest quality, and focus on customer needs, so this will not only be of great benefit to each organization, but also to the customers we both serve.”
In 2016, a large addition was made to ChipBLASTER’s Meadville, Pennsylvania facility to meet increasing demand. Current plans are for the business to continue operating from this location under present management.
A global company headquartered in Orvin, Switzerland, LNS designs, builds, sells and supports a broad line of bar feeders and chip conveyors, vacuum unloaders, oil/coolant mist collectors, coolant management systems, and workholding devices.
To learn more about LNS and ChipBLASTER, call: 513-528-5674, email: sales@LNSamerica.com, or visit www.LNS-america.com or www.chipblaster.com.
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GF Machining Solutions, the world’s leading provider of machines, diverse technical solutions and services, showcased new technologies that will shape the future of the manufacturing industry at IMTS 2018. Unprecedented numbers of visitors saw demonstrations of a wide range of innovative milling, EDM, laser texturing, additive manufacturing and micromachining technologies, along with automation, tooling and connectivity solutions that address many of today’s toughest manufacturing challenges. Demonstrations included blisk and impeller manufacturing for aerospace, laser texturing of bone-replacement implants for medical, steering wheel molds for automotive and watch parts.
Among the products that attracted the most attention were the newly unveiled DMP Factory 500, a new-generation of additive machines co-developed through the company’s partnership with 3D Systems; the North American debut of the Mikron MILL P 500 U; the Laser P Series, including the LASER P 400 U 5-axis machine; and the CUT P 350 wire EDM machine with Smart Wire technology.
In addition to new equipment from GF Machining Solutions, the company also displayed TRD USA’s 2017 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Champion race car and a cutaway power train that was produced using a fully automated Mikron MILL machining cell with System 3R tooling and automation. GF Machining Solutions' ongoing partnership as an Official Technical Partner of Toyota Racing Development (TRD) reflects the company's role in providing high-performance manufacturing and automation technology for use in producing key parts for TRD's race cars. For more information, visit our website: www.gfms.com/us
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 FRACHT USA is happy to let you know that we continue to grow not only in the US but also globally.
In the United States we have already moved to new facilities at JFK and in Miami and will be moving to a new facility in Atlanta in coming weeks. All tied to local growth of our branches fueled by excellent customer service creating new and exciting opportunities.
On a global basis Fracht has made further investments in the African continent by acquiring Polytra of Belgium with excellent and long standing business relations in these regions and we are now represented with our own Branches in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Zambia, Tanzania and South Africa (both Durban as Johannesburg). These offices are added to the already existing Rwanda and Burundi Fracht Group locations and more are planned for the future.
Both project and general cargo is handled by these locations on a regular basis.
For more information about Fracht please contact walter.groeli@fracht.com or ralph.stierli@fracht.com We are here to help you.
On a global basis Fracht has made further investments in the African continent by acquiring Polytra of Belgium with excellent and long standing business relations in these regions and we are now represented with our own Branches in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Zambia, Tanzania and South Africa (both Durban as Johannesburg). These offices are added to the already existing Rwanda and Burundi Fracht Group locations and more are planned for the future.
Both project and general cargo is handled by these locations on a regular basis.
For more information about Fracht please contact walter.groeli@fracht.com or ralph.stierli@fracht.com. We are here to help you.
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  New Wandfluh company founded in Austria
Wandfluh Systems in Austria
The Wandfluh GmbH was successfully founded with head office in Dornbirn. This means that Wandfluh is already operating in seven countries under their own companies.The new company will allow Wandfluh Systems to continue to look after the existing customers directly and to provide the overall Austrian market with more resources. The Austrian market will be served by Wandfluh GmbH with the well-known Wandfluh products such as valve technology, systems technology and electronics.
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 Headquartered in Chicago, Leister Technologies LLC, a subsidiary of Leister Technologies AG, supports the sales and service of Leister’s full line of process heat, plastic welding, laser and microsystem products through its wide network of distribution partners across North America.
 For over 60 years, Leister has been a world leader in plastics processing with hot-air, hot-wedge and extrusion welder technology. To assure customers can always rely on the renowned Leister quality, the company develops and produces all products and accessory parts in Switzerland in compliance with the strict ISO 9001 standard.
The classic product portfolio of the Leister Group is subject to continuous development and has been extended by high-tech machines and components involving laser and micro-technology. Leister Laser Plastic Welding produces powerful and cutting-edge laser welding systems for plastics. Axetris AG develops and produces laser gas detectors, micro-optics, mass flow rate sensors and infrared sources for industry.
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 As an integrated professional services firm, Rödl & Partner is active at 111 wholly owned locations in 51 countries. Rödl & Partner USA has specifically tailored our accounting, auditing, tax and business consulting services to the unique needs of your foreign owned business in the United States of America. For more than 40 years our core practice has been serving the accounting and tax needs of primarily German speaking and other foreign owned “Mittelstand” companies operating in the U.S. As the preferred accounting, auditing, tax and business consulting professional services firm of German speaking entities, you will benefit from the extensive experience of our U.S. certified public accountants as well as our bilingual staff of professionals, many whom also carry international certifications (StB, WP, CA). Whether you are just starting up in the U.S. market or you have an established presence here, our services are designed to efficiently assist you in dealing with the often complex matters facing today’s foreign owned business operating in the U.S. Our approach is simple, it is designed with your needs and expectations in mind, with a single point of contact and a professional team formed around your professional services and language expectations.
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 Bossard is the leading global supplier in the industrial fastener market, offering over one million products, engineering services, and Smart Factory Logistics. With this focus, Bossard is able to reduce their customers’ costs and help make them more competitive. Bossard is based in Zug Switzerland and has 21 locations in North America.
 
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Ichbiah and Company helped Segepo, a leading French CNC machining and turning company successfully complete the acquisition of Fisher Special Manufacturing and doing so, establish its foothold in the United States.
Ichbiah and Company together with PIC advised Segepo in this effort from start to finish, i.e. identifying and reaching out to potential acquisition targets all the way to closing.
Ichbiah and Company supports Mid-Caps optimize plans to grow revenues and execute on those, organically or through acquisitions. With offices and roots in both the USA (Chicago) and Europe (Paris), we can be your cross-cultural partner to support your transatlantic expansion plans. For additional information, please contact Mr. Romain A. Ichbiah.
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Andreas Holder – Local Expertise, Global Inspiration
Are you representing a Swiss company thinking of buying property in Chicago? Are you relocating to Chicago from another country or city and in need of a new home?
As a Certified International Property Specialist (CIPS)® I am your local resource for everything you need for a successful real estate transaction.
Buying property as a foreigner in Chicago can be overwhelming – you need a trusted advisor who speaks your language and who is familiar with local laws.
If you would like to find out more about special requirements for foreigners buying property in the U.S. or need practical advice how to move a household from one continent to another, I have the resources to guide you.
To read more about the services I provide, visit www.GlobalChicagoRealEstate.com or contact me for a free consultation!
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EROWA Technology, based in Arlington Heights, IL., is a full service supplier of palletization and automation systems for the North American manufacturing market. Our goal is to provide complete turnkey solutions for precision parts handling through most any group of manufacturing processes (from one type of machine to the next). We are capable of providing a simple manual palletization system or a fully integrated, custom designed workholding and automation system to meet the current needs and expectations of our customers.
In the market segments of precision mechanics, tool- and mold-making, as well as chip-cutting production, we offer concepts and products that provide customers with considerable optimization possibilities throughout the whole range of machining processes. Primarily, we achieve this through comprehensive knowledge of the application of our products, through individual and customized consultation, and through the use of our Flexible Manufacturing Concept (FMC), which cover the following four areas:
- Standardization (tooling system, tooling technology)
- Organization (setting-up, presetting and measuring technologies)
- Automation (loading/unloading technologies)
- Integration (process sequence, process control and planning technologies)
EROWA Technology, Inc.
2535 S. Clearbrook Dr.
Arlington Heights, IL 60005
www.erowa.com
info.usa@erowa.com
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