6th Annual ACAP Conference kicked off today in New York City

6th Annual ACAP Conference kicked off today in New York City

by Srecko Mavrek

The 6th ACAP (Association of Croatian American Professionals) Conference kicked off today, June 17, at the New York Athletic Club.

The sixth annual ACAP conference brings together more than 300 professionals of Croatian heritage as well as non-Croatian people interested in Croatia, who are active in the Croatian community in the USA, Croatia, and around the world, for a weekend of networking, learning and exchanging of ideas.

With presentations by two unicorns, one shark, and one 40-time Emmy Award winning producer, as well as fireside chats and panels with some of the most prominent Croatian business leaders and innovators, this historic event is the largest gathering of the Croatian professional community in the USA.

The conference hosts 30 events over three days with the first day featuring a keynote and 17 different panels, fireside chats, workshops, and networking events. Today’s keynote is delivered by Robert Herjavec, a globally recognized motivational, business, and cyber security leader.

An interesting panel “Educating the Next Generation of Tech Entrepreneurs” will present Croatian companies that are leading the way in K-12 space as well as college level curriculum. Panelists from CircuitMess, TinkerLabs and STEMI will discuss about Croatia’s carving out the presence in leading educational applications in Europe, and soon, in the USA. There will be three other discussion panels – “US Health Tech Companies Tapping into Croatian Talent”, “Building a Sustainable Tourism Ecosystem”, and “The Evolution of Environmental Social Governance in Croatia”. Nikolina Brnjac, Minister of Tourism and Sports of Croatia, will deliver strategic address.

B2B workshops include the following topics: taxation, education & foundation, medical tourism, and Croatia & web3. A topic that has occupied many Croats in the USA and Croatia is a long-awaited Croatia-U.S. Double Taxation Treaty. Taxation workshop topics will cover both individual and company tax-related topics. For individuals, the two main topics covered are Croatia-U.S. Double Taxation Treaty and tax issues for Croatian citizens living in the USA. For companies, topics of corporate taxation in the USA and Croatia will be covered. Furthermore, the workshop will also look at the EU funding opportunities and other Croatia tax hot topics.

Networking4All sessions will connect experienced Croatian entrepreneurs and start-up companies looking to expand to the American market, American professionals looking to enter the Croatian market, Croatian professionals and company representatives looking to meet investors, students and job seekers looking to meet Croatian and American entrepreneurs and potential employers, and other Croatian professionals from the USA that are looking to expand their network and make positive changes in Croatia and Croatian professional community in the USA.

The Association of Croatian-American Professionals (ACAP) is an international network of 2000 professionals spanning across business and academic communities. Since 2014, ACAP has endeavored to connect and inspire Croatian-American professionals from the USA, Croatia and around the world to exchange ideas and collaborate on various initiatives while preserving the cultural heritage.