Author name: Bill Kenney

Link to podcast found HERE Transcript to podcast found below: Bill : Hi and welcome to the belly to belly podcast and today our focus is the preparation for select USA 2022 And we’re joined by are with John Bordeaux from advanced CT. Hey, welcome John. John : Thank you so much. I’m glad to be here with you. Bill : Fantastic so, you know AdvanceCT does so, so much amazing work and our audience are all international companies that are there either have already created a presence in the US and are looking to expand that or are companies that are looking to enter the US and obviously that’s a lot of the work you all do to help those companies come into Connecticut. Could you take just a couple minutes and tell us about advanced CT and the service you provide for companies that are looking to enter Connecticut? John : Sure. AdvanceCT is a private organization. We’re a nonprofit we partner with the state of Connecticut to help companies that are interested in investing in the state of Connecticut have an easier job of doing. So we’re facilitating inward investment whether that’s coming from another state or particularly from overseas or foreign direct investment. We help companies in the state of Connecticut as well are looking to expand here. So once companies have come and made an investment, they also are we’re in relationship with them on a continual basis to help them figure out the best way to expand and grow here. And what we like to say is we offer a concierge level service. Every company has a unique need when they’re coming and making an investment here in the state of Connecticut. And we like to see exactly what those are and pair companies up with the resources that they need. Sometimes we have those resources we help with site selection. We help with helping folks navigate the permitting and the state of Connecticut’s different departments. We do all those things. And then we also are trying to help folks figure out even innocuous and small questions like hey, you know, what’s this town like? Or if I’m interested in, you know, building relationship with University of Connecticut or Yale, who should I be talking to? We facilitate all those conversations out of those relationships. And we’re helping those companies come here to do interesting things. Get engaged in our ecosystem. One of the great things about Connecticut is we’re a small state. So we’re about 3.6 million people, and we all know each other. And we want everyone in Connecticut wants everyone else to be successful. And so whereas in some in some jurisdictions at some places you’re sort of 6, 7, 8, 9 steps away from somebody here in Connecticut, you’re maybe one or two jumps away from talking to the person that you need to talk to you in order to get the help you need or the leverage that you need, or the relationship you need for your business to be successful. So our job is to help facilitate those those connections and understand what each business’s unique set of needs are, so that we can, as I said, provide that white glove service, and we’ve done everything from you’ll help people find the right site, to helping companies talk to the Department of Transportation to understand trucking tonnage on our highways and bridges, to helping folks figure out, you know, what the permitting is for a particular area of the state, introducing them to the mayors of towns, you name it, we’re here to do it. We’re here to help. Bill : Sounds like an incredible amount of facilitation. Your team must be really good listeners to sort of diagnose what companies need and help make those connections John : We do and what the one of the great things about our team in advance CT is that we’ve got a lot of subject area experts. So Advanced Manufacturing Technology, life sciences, renewable energy, offshore wind, and more. And so we have people in our organization who have extensive experience in those in those industries. So not only are we good listeners, but we also know the right questions to ask. We also understand what it’s like to be a life sciences company coming from overseas coming from Europe, for example, and setting up a shop here we understand a lot of the questions and can anticipate a lot of them because some of the people on our team have actually done that in their professional careers. So we’re able to provide those services in a way that I think is a uniquely help. Bill : Cool. So let’s talk about Select USA itself for a minute and you know, some have called it the Super Bowl of US market entry or the World Cup of US market entry and you know, I guess why does advanced CTE participate? What is it about the event that’s particularly valuable for you? John : Well, I’m a World Cup guy, as I know, most of the rest of the world is too so I’m gonna go with the World Cup of events. You’re basically what we see. A Select USA is it’s it’s the focal point. It’s a focal point gathering of everybody who cares about making investment and in the US, and that’s the companies. It is the government officials, its partners. It’s the people who care about sustainable economic growth and in Connecticut, we care very deeply about the success of our of our of our companies. And one of the things that we take great pride in is the fact that, you know, the companies that do come here and are working at that apex of the knowledge economy are succeeding in incredible ways. We know a lot of great ideas are happening all over the world. And we know that this sort of entry point this

Link to podcast found HERE Transcript to podcast found below: Bill : Hi and welcome to the next episode of belly to belly and today we’re focused on preparation for select USA 2022. And we’re joined by an from a wonderful friend, Jason hunt from the state of Pennsylvania. He’s part of the business attraction team. Welcome, Jason. Jason : Hi, Bill. Thanks for having me. It’s great to be here. Bill : Fantastic. So, you know, the obviously Select USA is a massive event and we have companies coming in from all over the world looking to enter the US, and I know many of them are interested in learning about Pennsylvania and the opportunities there would you mind sharing what your organization does to help companies that are coming into the US and particularly interested in Pennsylvania? Jason : Sure, so I work for the Pennsylvania Office of International Business Development. That’s a part of our state’s department of community and economic developments. We’re a government agency tasked with Investment Attraction. We also help Pennsylvania companies export their goods and services abroad in Pennsylvania has this dedicated office because international business is a big part of our economy. We have over 5100 foreign owned firms here in Pennsylvania, employing over 300,000 people. Pennsylvania’s products and services traveled to 218 markets around the world. It’s just over 5% of our GDP, value and exports. On the Investment Attraction side we have a network of 12 authorized representatives around the world covering 33 markets, who work with my team here in Harrisburg, our state capitol to help international companies who are looking to expand or to set up new locations in our state. We serve as business advocates and liaisons between these potential foreign investors and various layers of government here in the United States in Pennsylvania. We also provide free services including assistance with research about locations across Pennsylvania, identifying help identifying business sites, introductions to some of our regional and local economic development partners and customized financial assistance. We work with international businesses of all sizes, but I’d say the majority of the companies we encounter tend to be small or mid sized companies who are looking for their first location in the US. Bill : Oh, that’s fantastic. You provide such great service and you know and obviously, you said right off the top, it’s so great to be back in person. It’s like USA. We’re all sort of so much craving that. Now, why Select USA? Why is that important for Philadelphia to be present there and why are you looking forward to it? Jason : Sure. So it’s not just Philadelphia, it’s all of Pennsylvania. That’s a common misconception from the outside. Yeah. But yeah, so why do we participate? It’s at the end of the day, it’s to meet people. It’s a great opportunity for us to put Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh all of our communities in front of a large audience of international companies in a wide range of sectors who are looking for opportunity, in addition to those prospective investors. It’s also we also like to use the conference to make connections to consultants and service providers who work with international companies. Because we want them to know that we’re available to assist their clients if they have, you know, clients looking at opportunities in Pennsylvania. And because it’s helpful to pick their brains and see what they’re seeing you they have clients looking at a wide range of states in a wide range of industries and it’s good to get kind of the bigger picture perspective. conversations with them and our counterparts in other US states who are usually all present. Help us to kind of understand how best to position Pennsylvania to attract new investment and see what the neighbors are doing. Bill : So both the idea that you can kind of meet so many companies that are coming into the US and connect with them and be able to help them and facilitate that, that successful entry, but also the connection to the network, the support network, and also a little bit of competitive intelligence. It sounds like Jason : Oh, sure. I mean, all 50 states are there you can’t help but see what the others are doing. But yeah, the networking is really the crux of the conference for us. Sure. Bill : No, that’s great. And, and as you said, You’ve been Pennsylvania’s been participating since the beginning. I think it’s this I believe, the ninth year of Select USA, but then again, thinking of the audience, these are, you know, in some cases, they already have some traction here in the US and they have, you know, experience in the market. As you know, in other cases, this may be their first trip to the US and you know, as you think about, you know, the event itself, and then whether it’s pre events, following events, or even just folks that have time, either pre or post conference. What are some thoughts you have about how companies can get the most out of this, both this visit to select USA and also their visit to the US? Jason : Sure, select USA has in the past done a lot of spin off events where either before or after, there’s opportunities to examine in detail different parts of the US. I think there’s less of that this year, though. Those are interesting if there happens to be one scheduled in a sector or in a location that’s relevant. I think, maybe next year, we’ll see those come back with a bit more strength. But I think focusing on the main conference, I think there’s probably three things I would I would suggest. One is you know if you’re early in exploring opportunities in the United States, be sure to attend the information sessions. The US Commercial Service, the Department of Commerce, does a good job

Link to podcast found HERE Transcript to podcast found below: Bill : Hi and welcome to the next episode of belly to belly. And today we’re going to talk more about how to prepare best for select USA 2022. And we’re joined by one of our great friends from the state of Wisconsin. welcome Katie. How are you today? Katy : I’m really good, Bill. I’m excited to be here. So happy that Select USA is coming back in person really excited. Bill : Having withdrawl and it’s it’ll be so good to see everybody in person again this year and I know you all have been participating for quite a few years probably since the beginning. And you know, like, as you look at select USA and you think about your services, you know, what are what is WEDC, the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation? What do you do to help companies coming into Wisconsin Katy : We do so much for our companies. We have full wraparound service, from the very beginning. When you’re thinking about where you want to locate in the United States, we provide all of the industry strengths that you’re interested in, talking about the workforce that you’ll be accessing, talking about the long term pipeline for your workforce and how that matches what you need. So we’re covering you when you’re just looking for your location. And once you have decided on the location, we help you in your next step. That’s the build up. We hope to get all of your authorizations for construction. We help you access the construction needs that you have as well as understanding permitting and if it’s a very, very large program, or project we would help you develop your own team was constant that will help you with that permitting process. And then lastly, we will open and we’ll be with you for long term. We wouldn’t just stay around for just the VA into the state, but we’re here to help you grow in the state. Selecting a new location of your country is a huge decision. And every company is very concerned that they’re committing to the right location, and they’re committed long term. So we speak with you from the very thing where you’re looking, select the location from the build out into your future growth in Bill : Wow, that’s fantastic. So really a multi phased approach to help with that decision give the appropriate sort of data and, and, and connection and then the process of both landing and then and then growing. It’s it really sounds very comprehensive. Katy : And that includes also the incentives that we offer. Bill : Fantastic. Well this is it’s great and certainly our audience, all international companies coming in and looking to come into the US so this is really appropriate. And again as I said off the top you all have been a part of Select USA for quite a number of years. Why? What is it about Select USA that’s so important? And why do you participate? Katy : Select USA is the most robust attraction event in the United States. There is no place where you can see a number of companies that are focused on expansion into the United States, where companies can meet the largest number of states in one location, of course reducing their costs for investigative process, as well as meeting all of the key leaders in the federal government as well as the state government the understand how play help companies land in Wisconsin and the United States Bill : That’s wonderful. Actually. I’ve heard people refer to it as the World Cup of US market entry. It’s kind of where you can see everybody all in one room and be very efficient in terms of making those connections. So yeah, Katy : companies can easily target the states that they’re interested in walk. have similar discussions with each state great understanding of what they have to offer. Bill : Now that’s fantastic. And that’s probably a really good segue to our next question, which is, you know, you think of the companies coming in some of into the US before and done, you know, whether they have customers who already are or you know, they’ve certainly done some market visits, others so it’ll be their first trip and for many their first time to select USA, how would you suggest that companies get the most out of the not just going to select USA but also in their in this trip to the US how can they really leverage their time? Katy : Sure, they’re, I guess two aspects one’s the event and then what to do after or before the event. I think when you’re talking about the Select USA Summit, it’d be pretty overwhelming. It is a huge event. So I think there are a couple key things that companies need to do. One, they need to do their homework, right? They need to have a well defined project, the timeline for that project, so that they can really respond to what they want. And they can talk about incentives in a meaningful way. But histories in a meaningful way. The other thing that they should do prior to landing in the United States, is to fill out their profile. So the profile in the Select USA on its application is the only way that the states can find you until the actual day. And if we can find you before we can do our homework. We can identify the groups and companies that make sense to our state. We look at our industry strengths and we match them to the companies that are coming into the United States. With them this event without that completed. I think that the companies really missed out on some extra research that could be done prior to their coming here. And then lastly, do that

Link to podcast found HERE Transcript to podcast found below: Bill : Hi, and welcome to the next episode of belly to belly. And today we’re going to be talking about how to best prepare for select the USA. coming up in June and in Washington DC and we’re joined by Alina from, from jobs Ohio and Alina, it’s great to see you. It’s been a little while since we’ve seen each other. Welcome to the belly to belly podcast. Alina : Thank you, Bill for having me aboard your wonderful both. Happy to be here. Bill : Thank you. Well, it’s always good to have additional passengers for sure. So we want to kind of attend to our items today. So jobs Ohio, how you guys are amazing. And I know our audience and we’re filled. Our audience are all companies that are interested in expanding to the US and can you share what jobs Ohio does to help companies get traction and be successful in Ohio? Alina : Sure. Um, so we are a private non for profit, we carry basically the same functions as your regular investment promotion organization that you would be familiar with abroad. All our services to companies are absolutely free. And cherry on top of the cake, we also manage the financial incentives of the state for businesses that want to locate or expand in the state. I personally work exclusively with European companies. And there’s a wide range of things that we can do for them, I get in front of them sometimes very early in their decision making process. Other times, they’re in a relatively more advanced state. But if it’s the first, so, a more incipient stage, we help them you know, for with everything that means informing the decision making process. So, research support that would the you know, yield the those numbers that would go into an NPV or an IRR or whatever model the company is using to decide on the feasibility of the project. So it would be, you know, cost and availability of, of labor costs of real estate, taxation, everything that has, you know, a numeric value that can be plotted and potentially benchmarked against other other states, if needed. If there multiple states into consideration, we would provide benchmark information as well against those states. We assist with permits, we introduce companies to service providers, whether that’s lawyers, accountants, tax taxation, people, developers, you name it, we can connect you. We also have a very rich real estate database that can be accessed. It’s very, not only reached but very up to date. We have some 4000, I think between sites and buildings, on it right now, so definitely, there’s a benefit of the choice. As far as the financial services are concerned, or the financial incentives are concerned, think of them three buckets, so the tax credits, low interest loans, and grants. And really, between the three and especially the grants, there’s a wide range of eligible activities and expenses that the companies can allocate those to towards whether it’s the actual fixed asset or it’s the software parcel the workforce development. But I guess the most value they feel in recent times has been a service that we develop the towards talent acquisition, which why is this important and why do international companies value value this? We’ve seen more and more companies being worried about their ability international companies about their ability to attract and maintain people. So we are in a 4% unemployment rate. So they rightfully ask, Well, why would people come to work for a name that they haven’t heard of, as opposed to a company down the street that, you know, their, their cousin, their friend has word, they know how they treat their people. So we work with a company basically to build that employer branding. But on top of that, you know, the talent attraction part the talent sourcing, the training, the pre screening, everything is done by jobs Ohio with with its regional partners, to the point where we become the company’s proxy HR department and the company’s able to focus on you know, ramping up their operations and less about the HR component, if you will, this is a, a short to medium term solution, we would do this for up to 18 months of the of the project after which, you know, the local communities have programs that can help ensure the long sustainability of, of this. So this is kind of in a nutshell, I guess, the, the, our services and our financial incentives. And obviously, companies valued them differently based on how large they are based on how ready they are to pull the trigger on this. But obviously, all of this is on the table for international companies. Bill : Wow, it’s great to hear the about the support you’re now giving in terms of building the team, because that’s obviously a huge and growing concern for companies so can gratulations on that. So let’s switch over to select USA, and maybe talk for a minute specifically on that. And that’s actually an event where you and I originally met several years back, and maybe you could share a little bit about it again, our audience likely hasn’t been to select USA yet. So they don’t know much about it. But why does jobs Ohio participate, what’s important to you in terms of participating? Alina : So select USA is, if you will, the Oscars of our industry. So everybody converges to Washington, DC. And by everyone, I mean, not only the state level economic development organizations such as ourselves, but also regional economic development, organization, sometimes even local economic development organizations, all the service, I guess, providers, so for us, it’s, it’s incredibly important to meet with these international companies, as they are refining their, their their choice, we, we want to make sure that we are

Link to podcast found HERE Transcript to podcast found below: Bill : Hi, and welcome to the next episode of belly to belly and today we’re going to talk about preparing for select USA. And we’re joined by Stephen Cheung from the LA Economic Development Corporation. So welcome Steven. Steven : Thank you so much for having me, Bill. Bill : It’s wonderful to have you and so, you know, LA, DC does so much great work to help drive the Los Angeles economy. You have a particular effort to help international companies coming into the LA region. Can you talk through some of the services that you offer to companies coming into the US and particularly LA? Steven : Sure. When people look at Los Angeles, sometimes they are overwhelmed by our size, especially international companies that when they think of Los Angeles, they usually think of Hollywood, Hollywood traffic and Hollywood. And what they don’t realize is that we’re home to about 10 point 2 million people just in LA County alone, and they’re at different cities within Los Angeles County. Most most folks when they think of Los Angeles they think of one city Los Angeles City, which is a great city of 4 million people but they already know about other great cities like Santa Monica, Beverly Hills, Pasadena combined together, you have 10 point 2 million consumers located in one single location and our industry so so diverse. Were the really international trade center when it comes to trade and logistics because we have the Port of Los Angeles and the Port of Long Beach and number one, the number two container ports in North America. We have a huge aerospace and defense sector, bioscience sectors, clean tech sector, all these other sectors that folks don’t know about. That’s our job with LA, DC. We help them understand the markets that they can go into, and also the complexities between all the various jurisdictions and the municipalities. So between the world trade and Los Angeles as well as the LA, DC, which by the way, the World Trade Center is a component of LA, DC where the international trade arm of LA, DC combined together we provide education information that’s necessary for these international companies to understand how to do business in Los Angeles, and we connect them to our partners so in short, our motto is very simple. We attract, we educate and we connect, we attract the types of companies we want to bring to La we have to understand Los Angeles and then we connect them with the right partners so that they can be successful and entering the markets. Bill : Oh, that’s brilliant, what a great summary and you know, thinking about the companies that are listening to our podcasts, you know, they’re really interested in understanding the US and sort of so many is, you know, think of San Francisco and they think, you know, Silicon Valley, and they think of New York, and so giving them exposure to you know, all the other great regions of the country and certainly LA is just a massive opportunity with such a great intermodal port and all the all the wonderful high tech industries that are there, um, you know, select USA, you know, LA EDC has been participating in for years, what it can you know, again, thinking of our audience, what is it that you particularly find attractive about Select USA in terms of connecting with companies? Steven : Well, it’s a great location, a great forum for us to be able to meet international participants from all over the world, not just the companies but also their government representatives as well. At the same time it becomes a very great forum for us to meet other EDOS around the nation to see how we can best learn from each other. There are a lot of synergies that are there that sometimes because of a geographical location, we’re not able to connect as closely and sometimes we see that we’re aligned. For example, we actually worked very closely with our friends over in San Francisco and San Diego, but usually, we don’t really get a chance to work with our California partners, except that Select USA. So this is both an opportunity for us to work with domestically as well as internationally to make sure that we’re connecting with the right partners to plan out our strategies and our work for the next few years. Bill : Oh, that’s really cool. And I’m thinking about Select USA. One of the features that many companies may not know about are their spin off events and you’re hosting a spin off event. Do you want to give us some highlights as to kind of when your spin off event is and what some of the features and who should be coming to your spin off event? Steven : Sure. We’ve actually been doing this enough events for many many years now and this partnership with Select USA and what we want to do at the beginning when we first created this spin off events about seven years ago as really highlights the importance of attending Select USA, and we saw that a lot of our partners that are coming into the United States to go to Select USA will have to transfer planes anyways and most of them are actually doing it at LA. So why not create a separate event that is free actually to all international visitors coming to Los Angeles so that we could becomes an additional incentive for them to go to Select USA. So we work with a Select USA team as well as Department of Commerce to ensure that we attract the right types of companies that are wanting to learn about the Los Angeles market. And our select LA Investment Summit this year is going to be on June 22 And June 23

Link to podcast found HERE Transcript to podcast found below: Bill : Hi and welcome to belly to belly and today we are going to talk about Select USA 2022 preparation, and we’re joined by Ryan Coombs from the Research Triangle Regional Partnership, which is a mouthful. Ryan, welcome. How are you today? Ryan : I’m great. Thanks. It’s so nice to be with you today, Bill. Bill : It’s great to have you. And so, you know, I think our audience is, as I mentioned, they’re from all over the world. They’re looking to expand into the US and we’re really trying to provide them with some highlights of really good connections that they can make while they’re at select USA and I know you’ve been pre connect so that their time at select USA is more productive. So maybe you could take us through a little bit about what your organization does to help companies entering the US and specifically into the Research Triangle Park area. Ryan : Sure. So as you mentioned, I’m the executive director of the Research Triangle regional partnership. North Carolina is comprised of 100 counties, and I represent 12 of those counties. We’re one of the fastest growing regions in the country. We’ve got about 2 million residents in our region alone. North Carolina has 10 and a half million residents and my job really is to go out and promote the Triangle region and attract investment back to the region. And so when companies come, one of the things I do is I play the connector role and my job is to help. I know when companies are looking at the United States are overwhelmed with the size of the country, and they’re really nervous about what makes sense. Where should we go? They know the larger markets, they know New York, they know Boston, they know San Francisco and LA, but there’s so much more to the United States. And so my job is really to expose them to the strengths of our region and shrink the country and make them feel welcome and let them see that they can do everything they need to do business wise here in the Triangle region. Bill : Yeah, that’s fantastic. And certainly, you guys have just been burgeoning in terms of growth of so many different industries. And you know, thinking about Select USA and obviously you’ve been involved for years. Why are some of the what is it about Select USA really attract to and and, and, you know, helps in terms of your connection to companies coming in from overseas? Ryan : Well, the US Commercial Service does a really good job of promoting Select USA internationally and we see lots and lots of investment coming overseas, especially from Europe, a lot of investment from Europe. And so select USA really is a great opportunity for companies to come learn how to do business in the United States. But it’s also a great opportunity for organizations like mine, to be exposed to a lot of companies in a short period. of time in one location in Washington DC. Bill : That’s, that’s perfect. So, you know, thinking about USA and there are obviously so many different components. One of the components is are the spin off events and you all are hosting a spin off event that’s associated with Select USA. Maybe you could give us some highlights of that and what you know, who’s particularly, you know, a good target or a good prospect to come to your to your spin off. Ryan : Sure. So our region really is kind of a microcosm of the United States. We’ve got an urban core, centered around the Research Triangle Park, which is the largest research park in the country. But we also have rural communities that are just right outside of our urban core, where we’re really doing a lot with manufacturing. And so you can come you can do your R&D. We have three tier one research universities, within a 30 mile radius of one another. Companies love to come and do research with those universities. It’s very easy to work with them. They’re coming for the talent as well. We have 12 colleges and universities here. 176,000 students 46,000 annual graduates so the talent pipeline here is very unique. And it’s not replicated in a lot of parts of the country with the high concentration of graduates and especially PhDs or regions, the fourth highest concentration of PhDs in the country, but you know, for us, like I mentioned earlier, you know, a lot of people still don’t know the story of North Carolina, they don’t know the story of the Research Triangle region. And so for us, being a spin off city is great because it gives us the opportunity to expose international companies to what’s happening here. We’ve got you know, we’re the fourth largest Life Science cluster in the United States. We’re one of the fastest growing tech sectors in the country. Both Google and Apple are both building big tech campuses here. We’re very strong in agriculture technology as well. North Carolina is still our largest sectors. agriculture contributes about 100 billion to our economy every year, clean tech and then I’ve already mentioned manufacturing. So we’ve got something for everybody. That’s a very diverse region. And there’s a way for everyone to fit in here. So it’s just like I said, the spin off is an opportunity for us to showcase the strengths of our region and national companies that may have never heard of us to a different part of the United States. Bill : Oh, that’s great. And so, you know, again, thinking about these companies that are coming and you know, in some cases they’ve been the founders and representatives have been to the US before, they may have operations already here. And other cases, you know, this is, you

Link to podcast found HERE Transcript to podcast found below: Bill : Hi and welcome to the next episode of belly2belly and today we’re again talking about Select USA preparation. There’s just so much to do and a lot of excitement is building for this event this year and today, we’re joined by with Jessica Reynolds from the Maryland Department of Commerce. Welcome, Jessica. Jessica : Thank you. Bill : It’s Oh it’s great. It’s great to have you today and in Maryland certainly is in a perfect location for a lot of companies. And can you talk to us a little bit about your service and what the Department of Commerce does to help companies coming into the United States and particularly into the Maryland region? Jessica : Absolutely. So our office of international investment and trade in the Maryland of Department of Commerce is the office tasked with assisting foreign companies to come into the state. So we see ourselves a little bit as maybe like the ombudsman for for those companies, you know, they’re they’re maybe interested in Maryland you know, there’s different counties to consider and and there’s so many resources and services you may need and how to connect all of those I mean, we can be sort of your your one stop shop for that, and help help you navigate the the region and help you find what you need. Specifically, you know, we can certainly assist with things like site selection, identifying specific service providers, such as your lawyers, your accountants, etc. And making introductions to other state agencies, to the local industry associations, etc. And helping you get connected and set up. We’ve also created recently, we launched at the last Select USA summit, the Maryland soft landing program, which is targeted towards some of those smaller and medium sized companies that maybe need even a little bit more support as they explore US market. And, you know, we’d be happy to speak with companies about that. More at the summit as well. Bill : Oh, that’s great. Wow. So connecting and support and helping with that soft landing. It sounds like a real good combination. So, you know, obviously Maryland has, as a state has been participating in Select USA for many years, but why why Select USA? What about the event itself is Do you see it so important for helping international companies? Jessica : Sure. Well, I mean, this is the premier, you know, events for investors to come and explore the US market, right? I mean, this is put on by our federal government. So from that perspective, there’s a benefit. You know, we’re working with our federal partners in this. Also, many states participate if most, if not all states participate. So for one thing, we certainly wouldn’t want to skip it while other states are there. You know, and, you know, this year it happens to be on our home turf. The Select USA Summit is being held at National Harbor, which is actually located in Maryland, right across the border there in Maryland. So, of course, we wouldn’t want to miss that. There’s a benefit to us, you know, from working with Select USA in particular, because with this summit, you know, the government does work with the investors who are coming in. So from the states perspective, you know, we know that the companies who are coming to this summit, you know, they’ve they’ve already kind of gone through that process and are ready, you know, ready to, to invest so that’s, that’s exciting to be at an event where you know, everyone that you’re going to speak with no matter what the industry you know, they’re kind of at that stage, they’re ready to take the next step. Bill : That’s cool. I, you know, I didn’t realize national, Harper was in Maryland, so it’s a home game that’s Jessica : yes. so of course, I’m letting them know Bill : That you’re hosting that’s so I love it. I love a home game. That’s really good. That’s cool. So and this is a perfect segue because people can go right from your home game at the Select USA summit to a spin off event in Maryland as well which, you know, a lot of our audience may not know what a spin off event is. Do you want to kind of talk through the kind of the goal of the spin off event and who you’d like to attract to it? Jessica : Sure. Sure. Yes. So in part because, you know, the event is being hosted. So you know, in Maryland, we are offering actually three spin off events. So the spin off events, the purpose of those is just to give the companies that are attending an opportunity to tour or see something more in depth. And in our case, we’re offering some special events that are industry specific because of course, the Select USA Summit is broad, it covers all industries, all markets. And so we do have three spin off events that are intended to be more targeted. So our spin off events are going to be held on June 23 and 24th. There’s three different I guess you could say choices or tracks to choose from, but there will be held on those dates and the events, the spin off events will be like a full two full days. We’re including transportation and you know all the things that companies would need for that day. Our spin off events are have three topics. The first one is bio and med tech, biotech and medtech. So life sciences companies, if they are interested in investing in the US, they’re looking for a spin off event. We do think marijuana would be a great choice for them. You know, we were the fourth largest cluster and life sciences cluster in the United States. And, you know, there’s a