Dear SABC Members & Friends,
The Swiss American Business Council presents its Spring 2016 newsletter for its members and friends. SABC members can submit contributions for future newsletters to: events@sabcnow.com
In this issue we feature contributions from Barack Ferrazzano Kirschbaum & Nagelberg LLP, Swiss Center of North America, ETH Zürich MBA, UBS, Bühler Inc., Bossard, Rollomatic Inc., GF Machining Solutions LLC, Platit Inc., Hotels of Switzerland, Andreas Holder, Roedl & Partner, Andrea Lehmann LTD, Alp and Dell Cheese Store & Wandfluh of America Inc.
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Platinum Members
Gold Member
Silver Members
 
 
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Welcome New SABC Corporate Members
We welcome Heule Tool Corp. as our new SABC Corporate Member and its president Garry Braun. Heule Tool Corporation manufactures the highest quality, most reliable cutting tools designed to give you a superior finished part off the machine. You can find Heule Tool Corporation tools in some of the world’s largest manufacturers and the smallest machine shops. Heule Werkzeug AG is the parent company headquartered in Balgach, Switzerland.For more information, visit the Heule Tool Corp. website: www.heuletool.com.
We welcome Nespresso as our new SABC Corporate Member with National Director of Distribution, Peter Chacanias. Nespresso is the pioneer and reference for highest-quality portioned coffee. Headquartered in Lausanne, Switzerland, Nespresso operates in 64 countries and has more than 12,000 employees. In 2015, it operated a global retail network of over 450 exclusive boutiques. Nespresso Grands Crus coffees are featured in many of the world’s finest restaurants, hotels and offices. Headquarter of Nespresso is in Vevey, Switzerland. For more information, visit the Nespresso corporate website: www.nestle-nespresso.com.
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The SABC was proud to be a co-organizer of the Cincinnati visit of Swiss Ambassador to the United States Martin Dahinden, and Daniel Freihofer, Minister Counselor, Head of Economics at the Swiss Embassy, Washington.
The visit took place from May 11 – 13, 2016 and was co organized by the European Chamber of Commerce and the Greater Zurich Area. The visit included roundtables with Swiss companies in the area, discussions on workforce development with SABC member Feintool, as well as company visits. The highlight was Ambassador Dahinden’s keynote address at the EACC Gala dinner attended by 300 leading business executives from the area.
“The visit of Ambassador Dahinden and Minister Counselor Freihofer was a great opportunity to showcase Switzerland and its importance within a vibrant, economic region where many Swiss companies play key roles. The SABC was so proud to work with such great partners in the European-American-Chamber of Commerce, the Greater Zurich Area and the Switzerland Global Enterprise.” Said David Kouidri, Executive Director SABC.
 
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 Save The Date
Swiss National Day Reception on August 2, 2016 in Chicago, IL. More information will be provided soon.
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 Upcoming SABC Directory 2016 - 2017
We are preparing the new edition of the SABC Business Directory of the US Midwest, the leading resource of Swiss business interests in the Chicagoland area (see previous edition at http://sabcnow.com/sabc-directory/ ). The new SABC Directory is planned to be released end of May 2016.
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USPTO Proposes Major Rule Changes to TTAB
The U.S Patent and Trademark Office announced a proposal for the first major rule changes to the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board’s (TTAB) practices in nearly a decade. Interested parties have until June 3 to provide feedback.
A significant proposed change would allow for parties to submit trial testimony by affidavit rather than holding depositions. Currently, this move is frequently made during cases, but only when both parties stipulate to allow it. The rule change would allow parties to unilaterally opt to submit testimony via affidavit or declaration. Opponents wanting to challenge written testimony can still do so because the proposed rules expressly provide the right to orally cross-examine witnesses. The proposed rule changes also would require everything filed with the TTAB and all service of filings on the other side be done electronically.
The new rules also attempt to reduce litigants’ time and cost by streamlining the process of discovery before the TTAB, including capping the number of document production requests and requests for admissions (currently unlimited), and requiring discovery requests be served early enough in the proceedings that they can be answered and documents can be produced before the close of discovery.
The TTAB’s proposal would import the “proportionality” principles recently added to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure — a general policy that discovery in TTAB cases should be reasonable based on the relative sizes of the litigants, and an important change for big companies fighting smaller rivals before the TTAB.
Contact: William E. Turner II, Partner T. 312.629.7337 will.turner@bfkn.com, www.bfkn.com
 
William E. Turner II Scott Slavick
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The Swiss Center of North America hosted a reception for Ambassador Andre Schaller, Consulate General of Switzerland in New York, Thursday April 28. Schaller was joined by Fabian Stiefvater, Head of the Swiss Business Hub USA, New York, Daniel Freihofer, Director of Economics and Finance at the Swiss Embassy in Washington, D.C. and Claudine Haeni, Advisor Swiss Business Hub USA in Chicago.
Schaller and company met with Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker that morning; toured biotech Promega in Fitchburg and Emmi in Monroe.
Those in attendance were Dept. of Administration Secretary Scott Neitzel; Deputy Secretary Cate Zeuske; Beth Zurbuchen, President Swiss Center of North America; John Etter, Swiss Center Board Chair; Guy Moret, Swiss Center Board; Professor Wesley Smith, U.W. Department of Physics who works at the CERN Laboratory near Geneva, Switzerland; Professor Michael R. Sussman, U.W.Biotechnology Center and founder of NimbleGen; Professor Thomas Rockwell “Rock” Mackie, U.W. Dept. Medical Physics, Human Oncology, Biomedical Engineering, Founder of Tomo Therapy; Tom Hefty, Chairman Artisan Partners Funds; Tom Sylke Board Member WEDC; Master Cheesemaker Bruce Workman.
More Information: www.theswisscenter.org
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The ETH Zürich Executive MBA seen through the eyes of an alumnus
Interview with Steen Hansen, President/CEO Bossard North America, Class of 2005
 What impact did the ETH MBA have on your career?
It was a great experience that prepared me to succeed as an executive at Bossard, which is a Swiss-based manufacturer, supplying industrial solutions to the Global OEM market.
The executive MBA program at ETH gave my career the foundation it needed, based on real-life learning, with high-quality instructors from around the world. In addition to the powerful academic content, the international modules took me around the globe, to universities in Asia, Shanghai/Hong Kong and Tokyo, as well as Germany and Austria.
What was your most important take-away from the program?
When starting an international career like mine, it’s the cultural understanding as well as the leadership skills which are the key to success. The MBA program provided me with insights that I continue to apply to this day. For example, I learned in detail how the Global Business Supply Chain world operates, and what factors drive people and business growth around the world.
Why would an American choose to study overseas?
I travel extensively around the world and interact daily with people from all over the world. This means being a leader in different countries than my native one. The ETH MBA strengthened my position when it comes to negotiating and building partnerships overseas. This benefits the sales, procurement, and R&D performance at my company.
My classmates were a great international mix, and all the instruction was in English. The combination of lectures by highly-qualified professors, on-site company visits, plus face-to-face contact with successful leaders from around the world built my foundation in international business. Not to mention the friendships that were built during my time at the program, which still exist. They are a source of lively interaction and news from around the world.
More Information: http://www.mba.ethz.ch
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Building a sound retirement income plan
Provided By:
Allen Carter, Executive Director
UBS Financial Services
In today's uncertain market environment, it can be especially challenging to ensure that you'll have enough retirement income and the growth to prolong the purchasing power of that income for up to 30 years or longer. Let's pinpoint and implement the right income strategies for your situation, so you can be confident the retirement you envision will become a reality.
Whether retirement is years away or looming on the horizon, now is the time to start thinking about establishing a reliable source of retirement income. It is a daunting challenge to figure out a way to make sure that a lump sum of savings will last an indeterminate length of time in the face of uncertain returns and with a diminishing ability to add money to those savings if it’s determined in later years that savings are running short. All this has been made more difficult by an economy and stock market that is currently characterized by low growth and uncertain prospects.
As a firm providing wealth management services to clients, we offer both investment advisory and brokerage services. These services are separate and distinct, differ in material ways and are governed by different laws and separate contracts. For more information on the distinctions between our brokerage and investment advisory services, please speak with your Financial Advisor or visit our website at ubs.com/workingwithus. 140306-0322-002_S 0514251 GF
©UBS 2014. The key symbol and UBS are among the registered and unregistered trademarks of UBS. All rights reserved. UBS Financial Services Inc. is a subsidiary of UBS AG. Member FINRA/SIPC.
This article has been written and provided by UBS Financial Services Inc. for use by its Financial Advisors.
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Every day, billions of people come into contact with Bühler technologies to cover their basic needs for food and mobility. With our industrial process technologies and solutions, we contribute significantly to feeding the world’s population, setting the focus on food security and safety. Global producers and processors of wheat, maize (corn), rice, pasta, chocolate, and breakfast cereals rely heavily on us. Furthermore, Bühler is a leading solution provider of die casting and surface coating technologies, with a focus on automotive and optics. As a leading technology group, Bühler invests up to 5% of its turnover every year in Research & Development. In 2015, its roughly 10,800 employees in over 140 countries generated a turnover of CHF 2.4 billion. The global Swiss family-owned company Bühler feels particularly committed to sustainability. More information: http://www.buhlergroup.com
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Bossard is an international engineering and logistics service company that specializes in supplying you with the correct fasteners for your application in your products. Bossard’s employees encompass Proven Productivity in their work ensuring our customers receive the highest quality in their products and services. Bossard’s three tier concept, Product Solutions, Application Engineering, and Smart Factory Logistics provide you with comprehensive support everywhere and locally. Brossard’s goal is to help you reduce your hidden costs in fasteners and implement lean manufacturing to save you time and money. More Information: http://www.bossard.com
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Rollomatic is pleased to announce the completion of a new project on “Pinch/Peel Grinding of Non-Round Punches and Parts on Rollomatic ShapeSmart NP5 Grinding Machine”.
The capability of the ShapeSmart NP5 machine has now been extended to unround (non-round) grinding of form and precision punches and pins. Our experienced research team has carried out many grinding tests on form punches with amazing results. In addition, field tests have successfully been completed.
The process includes full pinch/peel grinding which ensures extremely high tolerances, form accuracy and the lowest TIR achievable. This is particularly important for exceptionally thin and long parts. As an example, we can pinch/peel grind a form punch 0.2 mm x 0.5 mm (.008” x .020”) oblong radius punch over a length of 2” with extremely close tolerances, perfect radius tangencies and practically no TIR.
Customer-specific tests have resulted in a shape accuracy of 0.002 mm (.00008”) and a surface finish of 2 – 2.5 micro inches (Ra = 0.09).
The ShapeSmart NP5 machine can grind oblong punches, form punches, squares out of center, corner radiuses etc. This type of unround grinding is done with the pinch/peel method. For every rotation of the part, the X and V axis (roughing and finishing wheel) is moved in interpolation with the C-axis (tool axis). In other words, both the roughing and the finishing wheel are in contact with the workpiece at all times.
The process allows grinding non-round form punches up to ¾” diameter/size. More information: www.rollomatic.ch/en/contact/usa
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GF Machining Solutions Introduces New System That Mills and Turns
LINCOLNSHIRE, Ill., April 27, 2016 – GF Machining Solutions significantly expands its portfolio of metalworking technology offerings with the introduction the Mikron MILL P 800 U ST (Simultaneous Turning). The machine combines both milling and turning capabilities within the same platform to help manufacturers achieve optimal productivity, accuracy and cost effectiveness.
GF Machining Solutions developed the MILL P 800 U ST with its gantry-type concept as a direct response to the needs of shops serving the automotive, aerospace, energy and general machining industries. The machine’s small 137" x 118" footprint makes it easy to integrate into existing operations, replacing two machines in the process. The compact machine provides 31.5" (800 mm) of X-axis travel, an 800-rpm C-axis rotation speed and a maximum table load of 1,763 lbs (800 kg).
The MILL P 800 U ST achieves perfect workpiece roundness, impeccable surface quality and a high material removal rate to achieve incredible value. Being able to fully machine components on a single machine also eliminates transfer-related part run out and errors and increases finished part quality.
The MILL P 800 U ST is capable of four-axis simultaneous turning, a capability often required by customers who need to have the cutting tool positioned at a 90-degree angle to the workpiece surface to avoid tool shape errors. The machine incorporates a 20,000-rpm HSK T63 spindle that is the industry’s fastest for a milling and turning machine of this size. Additionally, water-cooled torque motors on the A-axis and C-axis ensure accuracy and stability, while speed is enhanced through the axes’ 0.3-second clamp time in any position.
About GF Machining Solutions
GF Machining Solutions is the world’s leading provider of machines, automation solutions and services to the tool and mold making industry and to manufacturers of precision components. The products range from electric discharge machines, high-speed and high-performance milling machines, including clamping and palletization systems, and 3D laser surface texturing machines, to services, spare parts and expendable parts, consumables and automation solutions. GF Machining Solutions is a globally acting division of the Georg Fischer Group (Switzerland) and maintains a presence on 50 sites worldwide within its own organization. Its 3,008 employees generated sales of CHF 905 million in 2014. More information can be found at www.gfms.com/us.
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Introduces
Coating Machine Series 11
With Life Time Guarantee for the Rotating Cathodes
The machines of the series 11 are the results of the systematic developments of PLATIT in the last 15 years. It contains 6 different machine types. The series 11 covers the wide range of chamber volumes; small, medium sizes and even a big plant. All machines work with rotating cathodes. The 3 rotating cathodes of the newest member of the series 11, the Pi1511 are supported by 2 planar cathodes.
This principle was patented by PLATIT in 2003.
The series 11 machines practically allow the deposition of existing market coatings, and even much more. The coating families of the TripleCoatings3 and the QuadCoatings4 are used for different application fields, like cutting tools, molds and dies and machine compoonents.
The coating families of the TripleCoatings3® and the QuadCoatings4® are used for different application fields, like for coating of cutting tools, molds and dies and machine components.
PLATIT develops and produces coating equipment based on plasma generating PVD technology (Physical Vapour Deposition).
PLATIT offers complete turn-key PVD coating systems including all necessary peripheral equipment and technologies for surface pretreatment:
by polishing, brushing and/or microblasting
single-chamber vacuum cleaning with "start-and-forget" operation
stripping of coatings from HSS and carbides
For deailed information: http://platitusa.com
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Hotels of Switzerland – Our North American sales office has over thirty five years experience in the meeting and incentive industry. We offer the finest in Swiss hospitality for top level incentive programs for such clients as ED Jones. ED Jones selected Switzerland six times within eight years and gave Badrutt's Palace their highest rating ever recorded. Our hotels often make the top ten in the Conde Nast Traveler Gold List and are located in a variety of settings, such as the Victoria-Jungfrau Grand Hotel & Spa, Interlaken, and the Beau-Rivage Palace, Lausanne. Our close cooperation with Swiss International Airlines and local destination management companies allow us to provide you with complete tour elements including ground transportation and excursions. We work with a variety of budgets and can tailor an unforgettable meeting/incentive program for you at the top of Europe! For more information contact info@hotelsofswitzerland.com, p. 312.919.1500. And to see list of all our member properties and partners please visit our website: www.hotelsofswitzerland.com.
 
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 Andreas Holder specializes in the global luxury real estate market. From right here in Chicago to Hong Kong and everywhere in between, he knows what international buyers are expecting in an upscale home. As a world traveler himself, Andreas respects not only what you need in a world-class residence, but what you need in a real estate agent too, which is why he’s proud to offer his services in an array of languages. Andreas recognizes your lifestyle and will work tirelessly to find you the perfect home. To read more about him and what his clients say about his service, visit GlobalChicagoRealEstate.com.
Luxury Collection Specialist, Broker Associate: Andreas Holder
Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices KoenigRubloff Realty Group
900 N Michigan Avenue, Suite 800
Chicago, IL 60611
E-mail: AHolder@KoenigRubloff.com
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Rödl & Partner, a leading global professional services firm, provides you integrated audit, legal, tax, and business consulting solutions from its 106 wholly owned subsidiaries in 49 countries. Rödl & Partner USA has specifically tailored our services to the unique needs of your foreign owned business in the United States of America. For the past 40 years our core practice has been serving the accounting, tax and consulting needs of primarily German speaking and other foreign owned “Mittelstand” companies operating in the U.S. Our U.S. offices are located in Atlanta (GA), Birmingham (AL), Charlotte (NC), Chicago (IL), Greenville (SC), Houston (TX) and Manhattan (NY).
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Please consider Andrea Lehmann Ltd. for your accounting and tax needs. We are a boutique style accounting and tax consulting firm with a 30-year track record of providing professional services to Swiss and other European owned companies and foreign nationals in the U.S.
Our service offerings include business start-up assistance, multijurisdictional tax planning, compliance reporting, annual audits of financial statements, GAAP conversion support (HGB, IFRS), due diligence service and the coordination of transfer pricing studies.
We have an established network of professional relationships in the legal, banking, insurance, human resource and distribution markets on both sides of the Atlantic.
Our business philosophy is based on a strong relationship with our clients, coupled with high standards of quality service, custom made for the needs of European clients.
Please call our office to schedule a meeting with our team.
Andrea Luehmann, Ltd.
Thomas B. Richter, CPA
525 W Monroe St, Ste 2360
Chicago, IL 60661
Tel.: +1 312 669 1120
tr@luehmann-chicago.com
www.luehmann-chicago.com
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The Alp and Dell Cheese Store is in the Heart of Wisconsin’s Dairy and Cheese Industry. Green County has about 400 Dairy farms producing 530 million pounds of milk annually. In the remaining 13 Cheese factories in Green County, many master cheese makers are busy turning this farm fresh product into Green County Gold.
You can witness the cheese makers in action, by walking from the cheese store into the viewing hall of the Emmi Roth Cheese factory.
Emmi Roth is the “Home” of the 2016 World Champion Cheese: “Grand Cru Surchoix”
A video will take you through the cheese making and curing process and into the cellars.
Alp and Dell Cheese Store offers a wide selection of locally produced cheese and sausages. From a total of over 100 different cheeses you are able to taste many of them in our store. Every Saturday we have an extended cheese and wine pairing / tasting in the store.
Along with the local cheeses, Alp & Dell offers a nice selection of well known imported cheese from Europe.
A well balanced selection of wines from throughout the world and some locally brewed beers round out our assortment. More information: https://www.alpanddellcheese.com
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 Wandfluh of America has a comprehensive selection of hydraulic components with many different designs and functionality. The company is well-known for products that can be used in demanding hydraulic applications. The main focus is on spool valves, poppet valves, proportional valves, electronic components, miniature hydraulics and cartridge valve technology. The company’s considerable experience in component and system design and a well thought-out modular construction system result in individual solutions that are adapted to customer requirements in the optimum way.
The range of Wandfluh product applications is extremely extensive as a result of customer-oriented, flexible market cultivation. There is hardly an industry that does not benefit from
the advantages of the hydraulics and electronics of Wandfluh. The range of possible uses is continuously expanding because of market development and specific customer requirements.
The products can be used in the following areas:
- Machine, paper, textile and plastics industries
- Construction industry
- Robotics and handling systems
- Energy production
- Offshore technology and shipbuilding
- Underwater  applications
- Chemicals
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