Expanding into the United States – IRA & CHIPS: Challenges & Opportunities

The IRA and CHIPS Act are designed to increase investments into infrastructure, energy projects, and semiconductor manufacturing and supply chains in the United States through various federal grants, tax credits, and other incentives. Companies even remotely connected to the semi-conductor or green energy sectors have been looking for ways to access the billions of dollars of incentives and subsidies being made available by the Federal Government.

Is your company connected to these industries? Are you already in the US or are you considering expanding your operations to the US? Have you considered taking advantage of these US subsidies by entering the US market directly or via a partnership? Is this a good time to do so? Have you considered Florida?

Join our panel of experts who will share insights about opportunities and challenges in US market expansion of European companies in the era of the Inflation Reduction Act and closer US/EU collaboration with a focus on real estate, construction, renewable energy and green projects.

SPEAKERS

• Ela Eskinazi, Head of Sustainable Finance & Clean Energy – Bank of the West/BMO Harris Commercial Bank
• Ludmilla L. Kasulke, Partner – Squire Patton Boggs
• Joe Kulenovic, Vice President, International Operations – Enterprise Florida, Inc.
• Michelle Sadeghy, Energy Tax Credit & Incentives Manager – Kaufman Rossin
• Peter Stratos, Principal, Tax Advisory Services – International – Kaufman Rossin [Moderator]

TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION

• IRA & CHIPS incentives and subsidies for (foreign) companies on U.S. federal and/or state level
• Which sectors are most concerned and where are the opportunities for transatlantic collaboration
• What you need to know about these funds and how to catalyze private investment in these sectors with a focus on clean energy, real estate and construction
• Structural and strategic considerations when entering the US market (Partnership or Subsidiary)
• Reporting risks and income tax liabilities for US subsidies: Understanding the basic framework of check-the-box regulations
• Impact of IRA on the built environment
• 179D Energy Efficient Commercial Building Deduction: Current status and where it is headed
• How building designers can benefit from the IRA

DATE & TIME

Tuesday September 26, 2023
In person: 8.30 AM EDT – 10.30 AM EDT
Online: 9.00 AM EDT – 10.00 AM EDT I 15.00 PM CET I 16.00 PM CET

LOCATION

Kaufman Rossin – 3310 Mary St – 4th floor, Miami, FL 33133

REGISTRATION FEE

EACC Member: Free
Guest or Young Voice with Promo Code: Free
EACC Non-Member: $30
Online attendance: Free

Program hosted by

SPEAKER BIOS

Ela Eskinazi is the Head of Sustainable Finance & Clean Energy at Bank of the West/BMO Harris Commercial Bank. She is responsible for the strategy and execution of sustainable finance activities and solutions across the bank. Before this role, Ela worked at Bank of America for 15 years, most recently as Head of Business Development ESG & Sustainable Finance in North America. Prior to banking, she worked at GE Healthcare in commercial leadership roles, attained her black-belt certification. Ela has a MSc. degree from Purdue University and BSc. from Middle East Technical University in Turkey. Ela serves as Chairwoman of the Board at Bridge to Turkiye Fund, an education focused non-profit organization serving underprivileged children and youth.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elasahineskinazi/

Ludmilla (Milla) Kasulke draws on her experience in both domestic and international policy to assist clients on a wide trade and investment matters. Milla provides multinational corporations, sovereign governments and entities, and quasi-government entities with advice on a wide range of trade policy, legal, and regulatory issues and investment programs, including implementation of the CHIPS Act and semiconductor incentives, as well as clean energy provisions of the Inflation Reduction Act.  She also regularly advises clients on the impacts of current and potential new trade actions, including Section 301 and 232 tariffs and trade preference programs. Milla also regularly counsels clients on the impacts of current and potential new trade negotiations, including the US-Mexico Canada Agreement (USMCA) and US-Japan and -EU talks.

Prior to law school, Milla was the special assistant to the chairman of the White House Council on Environmental Quality, where she gained first-hand experience in the daily operations of the executive branch. While at the council, she worked closely with the chairman and his team of policy advisors in the development and management of significant administration policies and programs, such as the Major Economies Meetings on Energy Security and Climate Change.

While in law school, Milla served as the assistant to former White House Counsel and former US Ambassador to the European Union C. Boyden Gray. She was elected as a vice president on the executive board of the Student Bar Association, where she represented part-time student interests. Additionally, she was an active member of the Georgetown Journal of Law & Public Policy staff, where she served as a symposium director.

Joe Kulenovic is responsible for managing Florida’s network of 19 trade and investment promotion offices outside the United States, as well as leading efforts to attract foreign direct investment into the state. He previously served as Enterprise Florida’s Chief Economist and head of its Research Department for over a decade.

Other career highlights include working as Research Director for public-private partnerships for the US Agency for International Development, consulting for the Inter-American Development Bank and the European Union, and a total of about nine years with the World Bank Group, in a variety of functional roles. At the World Bank, he led work on detailed case studies of economically competitive cities around the globe, seeking to understand their success in fostering broad-based economic growth and creating jobs. He also designed and/or implemented World Bank projects in urban transport, local and regional economic development, and building institutional capacity at economic development organizations/investment promotion agencies. With close to three decades of professional experience in international trade and development, Kulenovic has worked in or with more than 30 countries on all continents.

Kulenovic holds a Bachelor’s degree in Interdisciplinary International Studies from the University of Belgrade, and a dual Master’s degree in Economics and International Relations from The Johns Hopkins University – The Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) in Washington, DC, and Bologna, Italy. Having lived in nine countries on four continents, he has a working knowledge of several languages.

Michelle Sadeghy is a Manager on the Tax Credits & Incentives Practice within the Tax Services Advisory Group of Kaufman Rossin. As a mechanical engineer with a background in energy efficiency in commercial buildings, she helps clients qualify for various energy credits and incentives, including the 179D deduction for energy efficient commercial buildings and the 45L energy efficient home credit for developers. She brings over a decade of experience as a project manager and energy modeler for design an construction teams. She has worked on over 40 Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) projects and provided energy design consulting on over 300 projects. She earned her Bachelor of Science in Environmental Engineering from the University of Colorado Boulder. She is a Licensed Professional Mechanical Engineer (PE) in Florida and California and a National Green Building Standard (NGBS) Verifier. She is also a graduate from the Urban Land Institute (ULI) Leadership Institute and an active member of ULI.

Peter Stratos is a principal in Kaufman Rossin’s International Tax department where he provides extensive knowledge to his clients on international tax planning for both individual and corporate taxes. Peter’s primary expertise in international tax is in the areas of foreign tax credit planning, residency issues, state and local issues for international and multinational businesses, expats and inpats, pre-immigration planning, transfer pricing, compensation planning, treaty positions, entity selection, organizational structuring and withholding issues. Peter is a Certified Public Accountant in Florida and Virginia. He is also a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, the Florida Institute of Public Accountants and the Virginia Society of Public Accountants.