Regional Chamber Exploring International Partnerships

New London, CT – On Thursday, December 5, the Chamber of Commerce of Eastern Connecticut was pleased to join the Rotary Club of New London at the Lighthouse Inn to hear from guest speaker, Consul General of Germany to the New England States, Dr. Sonja Kreibich, at a special event to discuss American German business relations.

Topics of discussion for the future of our nations’ transatlantic partnership included: clean energy, national defense, trade exchange, support for Ukraine, as well as the state of Connecticut and Germany’s connections at-a-glance.

Key takeaways were as follows:

• International and National Defense
  • Germany is a strong supporter of American military equipment exports, having a $26B investment.
  • Germany is an ally in NATO and UN peacekeeping troops.
  • Ukraine
  • Germany has trained 16,000 Ukrainian troops and funded $40B towards military and civilian support (second closest investment to North America, at $44B).
  • Germany has a big focus on humanitarianism, having sheltered 1.1M refugees, providing them adequate access to healthcare, education, and social services-post asylum.
• Education
  • Germany is currently collaborating with UCONN and CT State Colleges & Universities, implementing a German Studies Program with EUROTECH and EUROBIZ to advance engineering and business degrees.
• Workforce Development/Manufacturing & Trade
  • CT employees over 12,000 workers abroad in Germany. 
  • MTU and Pratt & Whitney are Germany’s top jet engine suppliers.
• Energy
  • Like New England, turbines are one of Germany’s top sources (onshore is supplemental to solar and biomass.)
  • Germany and the U.S. share a 16% renewable energy capacity. Germany alone last year committed to a 57% national usage and empowers 1.5M clean tech jobs to-date where New England’s new energy workforce is climbing closely just under 1M.

Regional partners in attendance that benefit from these findings included: the City of New London, Southeastern CT Enterprise Region (seCTer), and AdvanceCT.

“The above organizations and many others are of great importance to establishing a significant relationship with international partners. Through empowering economic development and connecting with domestic and foreign Chambers of Commerce, you can discover insights on perception, policy, and initiatives as it pertains to a variety of industries. We (Chamber ECT) hope to learn more from Germany and other countries on ways to promote our resources and progress our mutual interests,” states Tony Sheridan, President and CEO.

Sheridan looks forward to the early stages of an establishing partnership with Australia (Victorian Chamber of Commerce and Industry) and encourages those with substantial German ties to please reach out.  

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About the Chamber of Commerce of Eastern Connecticut:

The Chamber of Commerce of Eastern Connecticut is a collaborative of business and community leaders dedicated to securing and enhancing the economic vitality of eastern Connecticut. The Chamber works to create value for its members and the region by providing forums for business networking, leadership and discussions of issues that affect the region; providing opportunities for members to showcase their products, services and accomplishments; helping small businesses succeed through educational programs; and working to reduce the costs of doing business in Connecticut. For more information, visit ChamberECT.com.