Workshop III Market entry/expansion and legal framework requirements
Workshop III will shed light on important issues with regard to the involvement of German companies in the US. Special focus is on possible market entry barriers but also opportunities and strategies for a successful US business. Furthermore, legal challenges and topics such as US company formation, product liability law, employee posting, entry requirements and compliance with special import regulations (e.g., FDA) will be addressed.
Our Speakers
Dipl.-Ing. Christian Buske
Geschäftsführer, Plasmatreat GmbH
Christian Buske is the managing director and company founder of Plasmatreat GmbH. Since its foundation in Steinhagen in 1995, the company has specialized in the development and manufacture of atmospheric plasma equipment and systems for the treatment of surfaces. After the invention and patenting of the novel Openair-Plasma® technology, numerous other developments and patents followed, e.g. in the field of plasma coatings. Early on in the company's young history, Buske founded additional technology centers and subsidiaries in Canada, the USA, Japan and China, among other places, as well as in Europe, and has since been steadily expanding its worldwide sales and service network with subsidiaries and sales partners. Christian Buske studied cybernetics and automation technology at the Leipzig Institute of Technology and moved to Bielefeld in 1989.
Gerhard F. Schneiders
Senior Principal, Rödl Langford de Kock LLP - Atlanta
Gerhard Schneiders has been with Rödl & Partner USA since autumn 2012 and helped to set up the NY office. As Senior Principal, he takes a critical look at German GAAP reporting packages, advises on international accounting, taxes, bookkeeping and market entry consulting. He served on the board of the German American Chamber of Commerce in New York from 2008 to 2020, as member of this Finance and Membership Committees. Gerhard Schneiders studied business administration at the universities in Heidelberg, Mannheim and graduated in Saarbrücken with Dipl. Kfm. He is a tax consultant, auditor and Certified Public Accountant (CPA). He has 30 years of professional experience, including 10 years at Arthur Andersen in Düsseldorf, 10 years at Ernst & Young, including 8 years as a partner and head of the German desk in Boston, MA. He has been working at Rödl & Partner USA since 2012, first in New York and now in Atlanta.
Ralph-Peter Müller
President CFturbo, Inc. and Manging Director CFturbo GmbH
Ralph Peter MUELLER is Co-Founder of CFturbo. CFturbo is a high-tech company specialized in engineering software and services, in particular for all kind of rotating machinery for example aeroengines, cooling fans, hydro turbines, turbochargers, water pumps, and many other applications from various industries. Since 2017 Mr. Mueller runs the US subsidiary CFturbo, Inc. in Brooklyn, NY. Before co-founding CFturbo GmbH, Mr. Mueller worked as a Development Engineer in Germany and Luxemburg. In 1993 he founded CFDnetwork GmbH, an engineering consulting firm specialized in numerical fluid mechanics and heat transfer. The company had shown outstanding success in the German Automotive industry. From 19985 to 1990 Mr. Mueller studied Mechanical Engineering at Technische Universität Dresden. Special fields of his college education were Fluid Mechanics, Thermodynamics, and Turbomachinery. In 1990 he graduated to M.Sc. (Dipl.-Ing.). Through all times of his professional life Mr. Mueller has been interested in advanced methods of product development, conceptual design, simulation, optimization, and Artificial Intelligence.
Udo Jankowski
Director, TECOSIM Group
After brief positions with manufacturers in the automotive industry, Udo Jankowski joined the then start-up TECOSIM GmbH as a calculation engineer in 1995 as employee number six. There he was appointed authorized signatory in 1997 and took over the position of managing director in 1998 as part of a management buy-out. The six employees in 1995 have now grown to 650 employees worldwide. Udo Jankowski now works as a board member for the group's holding company and is responsible for further expansion. He is responsible for foreign locations in Japan, India, Romania, England and now also in the USA. The TECOSIM Group specializes in engineering services related to product development. The international group has four branches in Germany and ten locations abroad. Udo Jankowski studied mechanical engineering at the Technical University in Darmstadt and Strathclyde University in Glasgow. He is a lecturer at various universities in the field of leadership and management and lives with his family in Wiesbaden.
Moderators
Susanne Gellert
Vice President and Director Legal & Consulting Department, German American Chamber of Commerce
​Susanne Gellert has been working for the German American Chamber of Commerce, Inc. for more than ten years. She is the Director of the Legal and Business Development Consulting Department. As of January 2018, she holds the position of Vice President. The Legal & Consulting Department advises, supports and represents German companies that wish to develop or expand their business activities in the United States by providing market entry services and legal advice and support. Susanne Gellert studied law at Ludwig Maximilian University in Munich, Universidad de Sevilla (Spain) and Fordham Law School (New York). She is admitted to the bar in Germany and New York.
Michaela Schobert
Director, Consulting Services, GACC Atlanta
Since July 2014, Michaela Schobert has been managing the Consulting Department ‚DEinternational‘ at the AHK USA-Atlanta. She is responsible for supporting market entry and business development projects as well as e.g. organizing industry specific conferences. Michaela graduated from Würzburg-Schweinfurt University with a degree in operational business administration, with an international focus and an emphasis on corporate development. Following her studies, she was an area manager with Norma, a retail grocery store chain in Fürth, and was responsible for the Wertheim district. From 2008 until 2014, Michaela led the export for Maintal Konfitüren GmbH in Haßfurt.