June 2020 Newsletter
2020 Dragon Boat Festival
A Rising Tide Lifts All Boats 水涨船高
Much of recent upheaval at home and abroad is tinged with hope: hope that societies around the world will renew efforts to ensure that safety and opportunity are available to diverse populations, and hope that we will find ways to live in a world touched by the coronavirus, whether that means beating it or just living with it.

Dialogue and commerce will always be important means for resolving issues and creating economic opportunities.

The Columbus Chinese Chamber of Commerce remains a platform on which people share ideas and collaborate on projects that lead to increased prosperity - and hope - for people of many backgrounds.

In this issue of our newsletter, you will find:

  • Chinese Chamber member spotlight: Kegler Brown Hill + Ritter
  • Member News from Vorys, Sater, Seymour and Pease
  • Chamber News:
  • Welcome to the newest Chinese Chamber board member: JobsOhio
  • Donation to Nationwide Children's Hospital
  • Recent & upcoming events:
  • Opportunities in Asia with the Hong Kong Trade Development Council
  • 6/26 "China: Should I Stay or Should I Go?"
  • 7/8 Chinese Chamber Networking event
  • 7/22 "Cross-Cultural Communication in Creative Work"
  • 7/23 US-China Series

Happy Dragon Boat Festival ! This holiday celebrates the moral uprightness of Qu Yuan 屈原, an official in the country of Chu . Chu was an influential state in what is now Hubei, Ohio's sister province .
Member Spotlight
Kegler Brown Hill + Ritter is a key member of the Columbus Chinese Chamber. For their clients with global operations, they deliver a consistent, cohesive and coherent array of collaborative services that answer their business and legal needs at any time, in any location.

This article by Vinita Mehra, leader of Kegler Brown's Global Business Practice, will be helpful to many friends of the Chamber: 5 Questions You Should Be Asking About Your Global Operations Right Now


To learn more about Kegler Brown's full suite of services, please visit https://www.keglerbrown.com/
Member News
Law firm Vorys Sater Seymour & Pease has a webinar coming up on Discrimination and Unconscious Bias in the Workplace.

In this Vorys at Work webinar on June 30th at 12 p.m. (ET), a trio of Vorys attorneys will discuss unconscious bias, privilege, discrimination, and harassment in the workforce. They will also touch on trainings HR departments could consider in their own organizations. 

To learn more about this webinar and to register, click here .


The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced on June 16, 2020 that it will extend the previously announced policy to defer the physical presence requirements associated with the Employment Eligibility Verification process (Form I-9) to July 19, 2020.

For more details on this update, click here .
Recent Chinese Chamber Event with
Hong Kong Trade Development Council
Winchell Cheung, HKTDC Midwest director joined Chinese Chamber board members Jaime Sisto , Deb Scherer and Monica Xia for a discussion on opportunities in the Greater Bay Area/Pearl River Delta, Greater China and beyond.

Click here for a synopsis of their remarks. If you would like to connect with one of the speakers, please email Pat McAloon .
Upcoming Chinese Chamber Events

China: Should I Stay or Should I Go?
Between the trade war and Covid-19, many companies are reconsidering their China strategy. Of course, the right plan is different for each organization.

This online event will be held at 2pm EDT on June 26 with Dan Harris, founder of the popular China Law Blog and Mike Billman, VP for Sales & Marketing at Chinese Chamber member D-Terra Solutions , and followed by 30 minutes of small-group virtual networking.

Register for this Zoom event on our events page .

If you have registered but can no longer attend, please email Pat McAloon to update your RSVP status and allow individuals on the waiting list to attend.

A recording of the event will be made available.
Virtual Networking
Wednesday, July 8th
All the networking with none of the mask-wearing or elbow-bumping! 

Join the Greater Columbus Chinese Chamber of Commerce at 5:30pm on Wednesday, July 8th for small-group networking (just like the "real" thing!) using a series of brief virtual breakout rooms. 

Bring your elevator pitch, a drink, and some food. If you want the *full* networking event feeling, bring a third item to awkwardly balance in your two hands.

Suggested attire: business casual for your top half.

7/22/20 Online Panel followed by Virtual Networking
Cross-Cultural Communication in Creative Work
When you make a film for audiences in two countries, how do you maintain the message the writers and director had in mind? When a bi-cultural team creates a single work, how does that work speak to different audiences? How does the camera lens reflect what is important to the photographer and his/her intended audience?

The successful communication of intention is important in all human endeavors; this look at how people convey meaning in cross-cultural creative contexts will be useful to people of all professions.

Our panel of experts:
Catherine Stuer , Professor of Art History and Visual Culture, Denison University
Tom Gattis , Dean of Undergraduate Studies, Columbus College of Art & Design
Hank Abbott , Associate Director, Creative Affairs, Pearl Studio

The event will be followed by 30 minutes of virtual breakout rooms for small-group networking and opportunity sharing. All are welcome to stay for this useful activity.

Save the Date!

July 23, 2020 8am-noon EDT

Columbus Chinese Chamber partner US-China Series , organized by View from the Peak and SupChina , will host a half-day multi-panel conference on issues in next-generation transportation.

The previous US-China Series conference brought together thought leaders from organizations such as the Paulson Institute, Ernst & Young, Yale University, Standard Chartered Bank, Wharton, the Council on Foreign Relations, and many others.


For information about how to become an event sponsor and get in front of decision makers in electric and smart transportation worldwide, contact Pat McAloon .
Chinese Chamber News
Chinese Chamber Welcomes Newest Board Member, JobsOhio
The state economic development organization, JobsOhio , is the newest member to be represented on the Greater Columbus Chinese Chamber of Commerce board of directors . Representing JobsOhio on the board will be Amy Lei , JobsOhio lead for Asia projects.

JobsOhio joins eight other organizations on the board:
  • One Columbus
  • Porter Wright
  • Huntington Bank
  • D-Terra Solutions
  • Schuerger Law
  • Commercial Vehicle Group
  • Nader Electrical Company
  • SinoConnect
Several members of the Columbus Chinese Chamber generously converted their registration for the Covid-cancelled 2020 Chinese New Year Gala to a donation to Nationwide Children's Hospital's Joining Hands Fund , which helps make up for shortfalls and added needs caused by the pandemic.

This donation totaling $806.74 will go to help staff, research, telehealth, and other services.

Please consider making a donation of your own via the link above!
Community News




NIO, an electric vehicle manufacturer recently moved its legal headquarters to Hefei, the capital of Anhui Province, and Columbus' sister city in the PRC.


The move comes along with an infusion of $1B in capital from investors that include the city of Hefei.



Columbus' sister city in Taiwan, Tainan, will host two former MLB players on July 4th at a US Independence Day celebration .



Wang Chien-ming (王建民), a former NY Yankee, and Kuo Hong-chih (郭泓志), a former LA Dodger, will participate in this annual event whose theme for 2020 is "America Day Home Run."
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