Today, K. David Andersson, IIUSA President, sent the following letter to IIUSA Members. Its message, however, is for all EB-5 Regional Center stakeholders. I am pleased to post the letter itself in PDF here. The text is also posted below.
IIUSA Ltr from President RE Annual Meeting and Advocacy Conf in DC
PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD!
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April 12, 2011
VIA EMAIL
To: IIUSA Members
From: K. David Andersson, IIUSA President
RE: IIUSA Annual Meeting & EB-5 Regional Center Advocacy Conference – Tuesday May 10, 2011
Dear IIUSA Members,
The September 30, 2012 “Sunset” date for the EB-5 Regional Center Pilot Program (the “Program”) continues to march towards us at an alarming speed. The continued existence and viability of each of your Regional Center projects now depends our collective ability to join forces to obtain permanent authorization for the Program.
If you are content in the notion that some form of extension, albeit temporary, is inevitable – you might want to think again. A single negative event could easily critically undermine even a temporary extension.
With that in mind, I invite you to join me and many other proactive IIUSA Members, in Washington, DC in May for our Annual Meeting and EB-5 Regional Center Advocacy Conference.
Advocate our Cause
We will begin by hosting a Congressional Reception to showcase our success stories to lawmakers. Individually, we each have an important story to tell – but together our collective narrative is impressive and compelling. The Program may be the only economic development initiative in America focusing close to a billion dollars in capital into projects creating tens of thousands of jobs. Regional Center Members are encouraged to set-up their displays and exhibits to provide clear examples of U.S. job creation to invited Congressional Office and agency staff.
The Honorable Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) has introduced the Creating American Jobs with Foreign Capital Act (S. 642) which, if passed, will make the Program permanent. We now need this act championed and passed in the House. IIUSA will assist you focus your important lobbying efforts with resources and coordination. Congress needs to understand that in order for the Program to fulfill its annual promise of $2B in newly invested capital and 40,000 jobs, it must be permanently authorized!
Champion Best Practices
In addition to our critical lobbying efforts, our Conference will promote best practices for Regional Centers with expert panels on Job Creation and compliance with U.S. Securities laws. Through this process, we continue to raise the bar of professionalism and integrity in the Program.
Please remember to VISIT THE EVENT REGISTRATION PAGE and the HOTEL GROUP RATE PAGE to make your “EARLY BIRD” registration by Monday April 18, 2011. Please also consider distinguishing yourself as an industry leader by being a “Program Champion” (i.e. event sponsor).
Together, we can make the EB-5 Regional Center Program permanent. The time is now.
See you in DC.
Sincerely,
K. David Andersson
IIUSA President
CC: EB-5 Regional Center Program Stakeholders
[...] I keep reassuring people that the EB-5 Regional Center program will surely be renewed before 9/30/2012, that Congress couldn’t possibly delay and prevaricate and let a good jobs-creating economy-supporting program expire … or… wait…. If you are also reading the newspaper and getting nervous, IIUSA President K. David Andersson has some suggestions about how to be proactive about pressing our…. [...]