Secretary Gretchen Carson Monroe-Union Economic Development
Laura Burton Smith Moore Leatherwood, LLP
Guillaume Faure Areva
Preston Fay Technekes, LLC
Frederic Gresset Wells Fargo
Olivier Henry Dassault Systèmes
Al Lanctot Darla Moore School of Business
Marie-Claire Ribeill Honorary Consul of France
SCOR
Jean-Louis Vanderstraeten SC Business Connections and Services, LLC
From our Executive Director
Dear Members and Friends of the French American Chamber,
There is never enough time to meet all of the interesting people, attend every great event or seize more of the opportunities that our fast-growing region has to offer.
Our activities for the last 30 days include:
Our participation to the Automotive Summit in Greenville which is a great place to network with automotive key players and get a good feel for a major sector of our economy.
We once again had the chance to accompany Mr. Louis de Corail, Consul General of France, for his busy official first visit to Charlotte.
The FACC also participated to the SKEMA first "Interview Speed-dating" event, an intense 3-minute interview process giving the students a chance to practice their job interviewing skills. More.
Last but not least, we are happy to announce a new member to Team FACC Carolinas. Thomas PRIEUR joined us as Director, Business Development. With his career in economic development in France, Thomas is the greatest addition we could dream of having in our group.Meet Thomas.
Jean-Louis Vanderstraeten
Executive Director
UPCOMING EVENTS
Experience an international perspective and discussion panel on
Growing Global Business in North Carolina
Special Guest:
Christopher Chung, Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina (EDPNC).
Thursday was a special day at SKEMA Business School in Raleigh, NC. In partnership with the FACC Carolina, SKEMA organized a "Interview Speed-dating" day.
Fifteen recruiters and business executives from companies mostly based in North and South Carolina but also from New York, devoted much of their day interviewing Master of Science students, either in International Business or Financial Markets and Investment.
Students were given an opportunity to test and hone their interview skills. Recruiters were impressed by the skills of the candidates and some students were selected for further follow up discussions.
We thank all the recruiters for their time and also Marie-Claire Ribeill and her colleagues, some of them from France, for making this event a success. Look for more events like this in the future as we build on this model and continue to perfect the outcomes.
In the spirit of reciprocity and international understanding, the
FACC training program for Americans in France brings together qualified young Americans aspiring to work in France, and companies interested in hosting them for up to 18 months.
Since 1992, through our partnership with the French Government agency Office des Migrations Internationales, the FACC's International Career Development Programs sponsors
training visas for American students and recent graduates to work in France.
The FACC J-1 Visa Program can give your company a critical advantage in securing one or several
trainees or interns educated in the best European schools quickly. It is available only to companies that are members of the FACC Carolina and, as a result,
Thomas has 20 years of experience in economic development in France and will bring his professionalism and connections to assist the growing network of the French American Chamber of Commerce.
Thomas earned a master's degree in economics and successively worked in both the Annecy and Lyon areas.
He later worked as the Workforce and Economic Development Director in ViennAgglo until he decided to move with his family to North Carolina. He is currently immersing himself in the English language and taking a course on community and economic development at the University of North Carolina, Greensboro.
We are delighted that he joined our team as Business Development Director. His focus will be to help us improve our ties with the French business and economic networks in North Carolina and to strengthen our presence with local economic and French development agencies.