“Building Bridges” Seminar a Success

Last week brought 15 Chilean companies to Atlanta, culminating in a productive session on Wednesday between company and government officials from both Chile and Georgia.  The meeting took place at the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce, and featured speakers including Mariano Fernández (the Chilean Ambassador to the US), Ken Stewart (Commissioner of the Georgia Department of Economic Development), Hugo Lavados (Chile’s Economic Minister) and Walter Bastian from the US Commerce Department.

I spoke on my successful experience establishing software development and IT operations in the country, and Mary Smith described Delta Airline’s experience establishing a call center in Santiago.

The session was moderated by Jorge Fernandez of the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce, and also included speakers such as Mateo Budinich (president of the Chilean American Chamber of Commerce), Miguel Perez (head of Chile’s IT trade association) and Brian Wilson, who heads up the Santiago office of Georgia’s Department of Economic Development.  Some of the other notables in attendance included Carlos Alvarez, Mario Castillo, and Nicolo Gligo from Chile’s economic development department, Raul Ciudad from Coasin (a prominent Chilean IT company), and Dave Kardesh from Home Depot.

The event took place on the heels of the Americas Competitiveness Forum, and the Chilean companies spent the earlier part of the week visiting Georgia Tech and the ATDC.  I held several meetings over the course of three days with these companies, and I’m excited about the potential for some very powerful partnerships between Arcato Global and the talented folks in Chile.