The Wall Street Journal recently published an article outlining some of the intricacies of the EB-5 program wherein Mr. Bob Kraft, Chairman and CEO of FirstPathway Partners, emphasizes the importance of trust-building.
To read the full article, click here.
On Thursday, February 14, 2013 Mr. Bob Kraft, MMAC China Co-Chair and Chairman of FPP, will be co-hosting the annual MMAC Chinese New Year Celebration. This will be a great opportunity to network with other business professionals, and learn about Governor Scott Walker’s upcoming trade mission to China in April.
To learn more about the 2013 Chinese New Year and/or Register for the event, click here
On December 6th, 2012 FPP Chairman Bob Kraft and Director of China Operations Dan Redford had the honor of representing Wisconsin and the MMAC Regional Center at the “Ambassador’s Investment Forum” in Beijing. The event was hosted by the U.S. Embassy, in collaboration with the American Chamber of Commerce in China and the China Council for Promotion of International Trade. The forum was the first of its kind, with the aim of encouraging and promoting Chinese investment into projects within the U.S. The keynote speaker was Ambassador Gary Locke and the event was attended by representatives and businesspeople from across the U.S. and China.
It is clear that we are entering an exciting new era of Sino-U.S. business relations in which Chinese private and state owned companies, as well as individual citizens, are growing their capacity to invest billions of dollars into the United States. This is a great boon for both countries, and as indicated by Ambassador Locke, Chinese companies operating in the United States could create over 200,000 American jobs by the year 2020.
FirstPathway would like to thank Terri Tyminski with Select USA Guangzhou, Commercial Consul Greg Wong, the U.S. Embassy and AmCham China for their hard work and effort in allowing us to participate in this historic event.
We look forward to continuing our significant involvement of Chinese investment into the United States via the EB5 program, and are proud of our partners that continue to create jobs and economic growth while pursuing American citizenship.
On November 7th, 2012, FirstPathway Partners Chairman Bob Kraft and Director of China Operations Dan Redford visited Ningbo to build relationships between Ningbo and Milwaukee hospitals. They were welcomed by the Ningbo Health Bureau Vice Minister Gai, and toured hospitals throughout the city. The hospitals included: Ningbo Number 2 Hospital, Women’s and Children’s Hospital, and the Li Huili Hospital. We would like to thank Mr. Xu Pingyuan, Deputy Director of the Ningbo Foreign Affairs Office, and Mr. Bangjie He, Representative of Ningbo to Milwaukee, for organizing these visits.
FirstPathway Partners is proud to be a part of the Ningbo – Milwaukee Sister City Partnership
On November 5th, FirstPathway Partners Chairman Bob Kraft and Director of China Operations Dan Redford visited the U.S. Commercial Service in Guangzhou. They were honored to meet with Commercial Consul for the United States, Mr. Greg Wong, and his staff to discuss the EB5 program and investment in America from China. We are proud to say that Greg is a Milwaukee native and University of Wisconsin Milwaukee graduate. Bob and Dan both were impressed by the warm welcome, and we are so happy to have such great representation for our country in one of China’s largest cities.
Many thanks to Greg and his team!
Investment to help EBR create hundreds of Wisconsin jobs, build new top-of-the-line street motorcycles and expand East Troy manufacturing and design facility
Friday, July 20, 2012- Investment fund manager FirstPathway Partners LLC today announced it has committed $20 million in EB-5 investment funding to Erik Buell Racing LLC, the East Troy manufacturer of the EBR brand of world-class sport motorcycles. The funding will allow EBR to design and produce additional models of street sport motorcycles and to significantly grow its international exports. EBR also will expand its facility, directly create several hundred new, good-paying jobs for Wisconsin workers and support hundreds of additional indirect jobs.
“This investment in a growing American company is what the EB-5 program is all about,” said Bob Kraft, chairman, CEO and founding partner of FirstPathway Partners. “EBR motorcycles are made in America and in great demand worldwide. This investment will create good manufacturing and engineering jobs in Wisconsin for skilled American workers and greatly strengthen a local company’s position in the global marketplace.”
The federal EB-5 program, put in place in 1990 through a bipartisan effort, allows foreign nationals seeking U.S. residency and citizenship to make financial investments and create jobs in select U.S. markets. The seven-county Southeast Wisconsin region is one of the oldest Midwest investment areas for the EB-5 program, which has investors from Denmark, Brazil, China, South Korea, Hungary, Mexico, Russia and other nations worldwide.
Erik Buell, founder and owner of the company that bears his name, is a recognized pioneer in the world of racing motorcycle technology. A former Harley-Davidson engineer, he started a company – Buell Motorcycle Company, which later became a subsidiary of Harley-Davidson – in 1983. In 2009, Harley ended the Buell line to focus on its own brand. Mr. Buell launched Erik Buell Racing later that year. The company produces high-end, limited-edition street motorcycles under the EBR brand, provides engineering design services, and also runs a successful race team sponsored by Hero MotoCorp and AMSOIL. The team races EBR 1190RS in the top U.S. motorcycle series, AMA Pro Racing Superbike. EBR is currently third in the manufacturers’ championship, behind Yamaha and Suzuki, and has a rider in fourth place in the riders’ championship.
“EB-5 investment funding through FirstPathway Partners is a key part of the financing structure which will allow our company to expand its product line by developing and introducing a broad line of world-class street motorcycles at lower price points than our current products,” Mr. Buell said. “Our research shows a very strong global market for this kind of motorcycle, and this funding will allow motorcycles designed and assembled right here in East Troy to be used in China, India, Europe – all over the world. It’s a great boost not only for our company, but also for Wisconsin’s exports and American business as a whole.”
Erik Buell Racing will do all design, testing and assembly work in East Troy and plans to focus a substantial portion of its spending on Wisconsin, Midwest and American vendors, although many highly specialized motorcycle parts will be sourced overseas. The company anticipates exporting more than half of its products within three or four years.
“This is a wonderful opportunity to re-establish metro Milwaukee as the small engine capital of the world,” Mr. Kraft said. “The investment in EBR will create good jobs locally and spread the word globally about high-quality, American made products. EBR is the only American-made, high-performance sport motorcycle on the market – it competes, and competes very well, with companies like Kawasaki, Honda, BMW, Ducati and other racing icons. EB-5 investment funding will provide a big boost to this promising local company and strengthen the Southeast Wisconsin region. We are honored to be part of this important initiative.”
FirstPathway Partners is one of the fastest-growing EB-5 providers in the nation. The company’s Southeast Wisconsin EB-5 commitments include the Downtown Milwaukee Marriott hotel project, DeltaHawk Diesel Engines in Racine and many others.
May 21, 2012 – This week Ms. Xiaoshu Xu, Chief Editor of the Educational Channel at SOHU.com ( 搜狐) and a central delegation from China’s education sector visited FirstPathway Partners (FPP) corporate headquarters to interview FPP Chairman and CEO Bob Kraft.
During his interview Kraft spoke about educational opportunities here in Milwaukee and EB5. A full transcript of the interview is available on the sohu.com website. Also interviewed at FPP corporate headquarters was: Former Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle of Foley and Lardner, Paul Jones CEO of AO Smith, Rocky Marcoux Commissioner of City Development, Tim Sheehy President of MMAC, and John Wheeler International Media Relations at Harley Davidson. FPP was honored to host such a prestigious group.
Sohu, a search engine headquartered in Beijing, China and its subsidiaries offer news reporting, search engine, informational and other services. Sohu was ranked 3rd and 12th fastest-growing company by Fortune in 2009 and 2010 respectively.
Tuesday, May 8, 2012- Bob Kraft Chairman and CEO of FirstPathway Partners was honored to moderate the 48th annual Wisconsin International Trade Conference China Session. Speakers included Damian Felton, U.S. Department of Commerce; Siva
Yam, US-China Chamber of Commerce; Hai Yan Zhang, Gordon Pacific, LLC.; John Powalisz, Sentry Equipment; Shuke Miao, Mortenson China Ltd. and Randall Birchfield/ John Fox of Covance Laboratories, Inc.
During the sessions, Kraft commended the efforts of Milwaukee for expanding international trade, of products, services, education and culture with China. This year’s highlights included “The Summer of China,” featuring the US Table Tennis Open and The Milwaukee Art Museum’s, The Emperor’s Private Paradise: Treasures from the Forbidden City, Cernet’s MOU with The University of Wisconsin Milwaukee to bring thousands of students to UWM and the reciprocated gift from the City of Milwaukee to sister city Ningbo.
Earlier that day, during the Wisconsin International Trade Conference Export Awards Luncheon Wisconsin Governor, Scott Walker, gave remarks on the regions International activities. In his speech, the Governor encouraged efforts to further increase international trade and investment in our community and expand exports. The Governor also touted the regions job pool, technology and innovation as key factors in attracting business to Wisconsin exporters.
Friday, March 23rd 2012- This week the China Daily published a feature article on Bob Kraft’s momentum in China. Kraft has been working to cultivate relationships and investment between China and the US, for over 10 years. The China Daily sites Kraft as “one of the most successful businessmen in attracting Chinese investment to the United States.” Kraft is Chair of the MMAC China Council and Chairman/CEO, of FirstPathway Partners, one of the largest EB5 investment immigration providers in the United States.
Kraft is honored to be featured in The China Daily, a key reference point for overseas media. The China Daily is considered one of the most authoritative newspapers in China, with the widest print circulation of any English-language newspaper. The newspaper has an average daily circulation of more than 400,000 in 150 countries and regions.
FirstPathway Partners (FPP) was proud to sponsor the 2012 Invest in America Summit in
Shanghai, China. The second annual event, organized by Wailian Overseas Consulting
Group, brought together thousands of EB5 industry leaders, clients, and
agencies. FPP representatives were excited to meet with industry stakeholders
and continue to be committed to the China market.
At the conference, FPP Chairman and CEO, Bob Kraft led discussions and gave lectures advising
clients and agents on investing in the United States and EB5 best practices.
Bob was honored to pop the ceremonial champagne at Saturday night’s banquet.
Also representing FPP were Director of China Operations Dan Redford, and China
Communications Manager Wenbo Yang.
Many thanks to Wailian Group for another successful event! We look forward to
next year!
log in
Contact Us
Links
Blog
Sitemap
