The 3rd  edition of the Italic Award Gala was a huge success. More than 250 entrepreneurs and executives were in attendance at Port Miami to celebrate an important milestone in the history of the Chamber, its 30th Anniversary.

The evening was filled with a great sense of pride and community.

During the night, our Board of Directors and management team had the pleasure to recognize 2 members with the 2021 Pillar Awards for their longstanding commitment to the chamber: Interamerican Hotels Corp. (20 years of membership) and Maya Enterprises (25 years of membership).

In addition, the IACCSE acknowledged the support of its new premium members Air Europa and Castel USA and presented to them a plaque as a symbol of appreciation for their contributions to our organization.

The peak-time moment of the Gala happened when President, Mr. Tommaso Cardana and the Consul of Italy, Hon. Cristiano Musillo presented the beautiful Italic Award to two excellences of Made in Italy naval and cruise industry: Fincantieri and MSC Cruises represented respectively by Mr. Giovanni Rivera (General Manager of Fincantieri Services USA) and Mr.Richard Sasso (Chairman of MSC Cruises USA).

Attendees were welcomed by an Italian Style aperitivo thanks tom the collaboration of many Italian food and beverage brands and enjoyed a spectacular 4 course dinner featuring a mix of local sourced Florida products as well as authentic Italian products. All dishes were paired with signature Italian wines.

The event included also an amazing silent auction featuring 2 business class air tickets, a unique tour in Italy and an Italian design chair

A picture gallery of the event is available on our Facebook page at:  www.facebook.com/iaccmiami

With its up and downs due to the pandemic and the travel ban, 2021 has been another challenging year for the IACCSE. Nevertheless, the Chamber has been able to offer a wide array of initiatives:

This past February, the IACCSE organized the first edition of the International Business Roundtable in collaboration with the Italian Chamber of Commerce in Mexico to explore new opportunities both in Mexico and the South-East of the United States and succeeded in organizing the online event Meet US, a series of webinars and B2B meetings organized for Italian SMEs wishing to expand their business in the US market that reached outstanding results with almost 200 participants.

Furthermore, in June, the Chamber managed to organize its first in-person event in 15 months: the Food Design Night at the Miami Design District, that has been the result of 15 partnerships with different Italian companies and has seen more than 300 attendees.

Moreover, in September, the IACCSE presented a hybrid event, both in-person and online: “Italian Grapes in Miami”, that took place at the Miami Culinary Institute which focus was the presentation of 11 Italian wine labels ready for the Florida market to a selected public of wine buyers.

For next year, the IACCSE is preparing 12 months full of new initiatives that will include our regular business breakfasts and European Chambers networking, the 3rd edition of The Best Italian Design, the 2^nd edition of our Roadshow in Italy, the 3^rd edition of the Authentic Italian Table food & wine festival and the 3^rd edition of the European Chambers Tech seminar, among many others.

More information about the 2022 calendar of events will follow on our website: www.iaccse.com

The Miami-Dade County Office of International Trade Consortium coordinated a business development mission to Italy from October 7-14, 2021. Program participants included Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava; Chairman Jose “Pepe” Diaz; ; Juan Kuryla, Director & CEO of PortMiami; Maria Dreyfus-Ulvert, ITC Interim Director; Veronica Pizzorni, Operations Manager of the Office of the Mayor.

The County’s delegation met with elected officials of Italy’s port cities – Viareggio, Florence, and Genoa — to promote cruising, tourism, cargo, and future economic opportunities in Miami-Dade County. During the visit, an International Sister Cities agreement was signed between Miami-Dade County and Viareggio, Italy and an International Sister Seaports agreement was signed between PortMiami and the Western Ligurian Sea Port Authority. 

The delegation met with four mayors and two region representatives of Tuscany and Liguria. Italian elected officials included The Hon. Giorgio del Ghingaro, Mayor of Viareggio; The Hon. Dario Nardella, Mayor of Florence; The Hon. Giovanni Toti, President of the Liguria region; The Hon. Mario Bucci, Mayor of Genoa; Paolo Emilio Signorini, President of the Port Authority of the Western Ligurian Sea;

The mission received the support of the Consulate General of Italy with the objective to increase relations and collaborations in the tourism, cultural and commercial fields.

The IACCSE will be involved in the business development aspects of this first Miami-Dade County international mission after the beginning of the pandemic.

Italy is the first European trading partner of PortMiami and the second European Trade partner of the state of Florida.

Specifically, the marine industry will be a primary focus of this collaboration.

For more information, please contact us at info@iacc-miami.com

The IACCSE will organize two webinars about the US market with the participation of industry experts. The two webinars will be focusing on bathroom fixtures and jewelry, whose major industrial districts are located in Piemonte, respectively in the areas of Novara and Valenza Po.

Specifically, the two appointments organized In collaboration with Centro Estero per l’Internazionalizzazione della Regione Piemonte (CEIP) are:

On November 11^th, ‘The bathroom fixtures market in the USA’.

The roundtable will host as panelists the executives of important companies which operate in the industry, including EOLO Design (Interior design – Miami), Watrline (Bathroom fixtures importer- North Miami Beach), CDP Holdings ( General Contractor -Miami Beach). The panel discussion will cover key topics, such as market entry requirements, strategic approaches to the US market, consumer trends and more. Gianni Toniutti, Senior Partner at TLRT International Law Firm and IACCSE Business Expert Channel contributor, will deliver a presentation on visas and corporate law issues for foreign companies doing business in the USA.

On November 18^th, ‘The jewelry market in the USA’.

The roundtable will host as panelists the executives of important jewelries which are active in the USA, including Dimo Fine Jewelry (Gainesville, GA), Jae’s Jewelers (Coral Gables, FL), Valobra (New Orleans, LA and Houston, TX) and Manfredi Jewels (Greenwich, CT). The panel discussion will cover key topics, such as market entry requirements, strategic approaches to the US market, consumer trends and more. The webinar will also count on the participation of Franco Campesato, Senior Business Developer at Distribution Factory, with a long career in top players of the jewelry industry, including Morelato and Chimento Group.

These webinars aim to provide Italian companies with valuable first-hand information and practical advice on the US market.

The Italy-America Chamber of Commerce Southeast is pleased to announce that the two recipients of the Italic Award (created by Italian designer Dodo Arslan) are:

Mr. Richard Sasso, Chairman of MSC Cruises USA and Mr. Daniele Fanara, Senior Vice President of Fincantieri Services USA.

Mr. Richard E. Sasso has been in the cruise and travel industry for more than 44 years. Mr. Sasso was named president of MSC Cruises USA in April 2004. Since then, he has effectively positioned MSC Cruises for growth in the North American market and in November 2013, MSC Cruises debuted one of its most dazzling vessels, MSC Divina, to Port Miami. In August 2016, Sasso assumed the role of Chairman of MSC Cruises for North America.

Founded by the Italian entrepreneur Gianluigi Aponte,  MSC Cruises fully reflects the essence of Made in Italy, as a symbol of cutting-edge technology, design, and first-class Italian hospitality in the global cruise industry.

Currently it is the third-largest cruise line in the world.

Furthermore, MSC Cruises is the protagonist of a major investment at the Port of Miami with its new cruise terminal.

Mr. Daniele Fanara, Senior Vice President and Head of the Business Unit of Fincantieri Services USA, is in charge of enhancing activities that include the supervision and coordination of Fincantieri Services USA after the company announced that has included its Services Division within its Merchant Ships Division thus representing a unique point of reference to optimizing the synergies between the new building and after-sales sectors in the cruise segment. Fincantieri is a global Italian leader in cruise ship design, reference player in all high-tech shipbuilding industry sectors and one of the most prestigious Italian companies with offices in Miami.

The ceremony will be also an opportunity to receive an overview, from these two distinguished guests, on the future of marine and cruise industry with the aim of establishing an ever stronger collaboration between the United States and Italy.

The Italic Award intends to acknowledge entrepreneurs or managers who have particularly distinguished themselves in promoting Italian quality products in the US market.

If you are interested in participating in this important event please find more information here : https://www.iaccse.com/italic-award-gala-3/