Spanning the globe to develop business

Spanning the globe to develop business
By BOB ROZYCKI

Ed Arace said he was wary but enjoyed getting a close-up view of a panda at a reserve in China.

Ed Arace, Lawrence Dwyer Jr. and Luke Rich are each successful in their respective businesses.

They bring a special set of skills needed for projects, and collectively they bring nearly 100 years of experience. They might live in Katonah, Warwick and Grand Island, but when the project calls for it, the team gets together to travel anywhere across the nation, as well as to China, Albania and points in between.

Arace and Rich recently returned from a trip to China where they are working with China Railway Erju Group Corporation (CREGC) to develop a resort north of Chengdu province near a panda reserve and Qingcheng Mountain. The men won’t divulge the plans for the resort other than it “will revolve around Taoism.”

With the Chinese coast overcrowded, “the government wants to induce growth inland,” Rich said. “They’re de-emphasizing coastal development.”

With that in mind, CREGC wants to develop in the interior of China. Since CREGC has never done a joint venture with a Western company, it is working with the men in facilitating that aspect and allowing them in a sense to enter the international marketplace. “CREGC asked us to make contact with Starwood, Hyatt and Marriott,” said Rich, president of Rich Results Inc., which represents private companies in Washington, Ottawa and Albany assisting in their efforts to secure assistance for business development. He also serves as chairman of Asian Development Group Corp., a consulting and business development firm specializing in Asian investment.

The government also wants to induce U.S. companies to establish a presence in China.

UNDERSTANDING THE ASIAN MARKET

“Our message is that there’s lots of opportunities in China. People think of China as a place that’s stealing jobs. We’re helping two business cultures to work more cooperatively,” Rich said.

The men are also trying to get China-based companies to sell in the United States by setting up facilities here, “to bring economic benefits here,” Rich said.

The men are helping CREGC understand how the non-Asian market works and help with obtaining investments.

CREGC -- a holding company that’s government owned -- started out building railroads for Chairman Mao Zedong and now it’s branching out into other construction, Arace said. “What’s different in our case is that a lot of U.S. companies are trying to break into the Chinese market, but we’re actually working for a China-based company.”

That’s the international side of the team. Over here, the team might help a company renegotiate a lease by evaluating the incentives for their client, which includes tax, IDA, job creation, grants, low-cost power and low-cost financing.

“People need us for a short time,” said Arace, managing member of A & R Global Consulting, a firm specializing in financial packaging for development projects in emerging nations, and the managing partner of Arace & Company Consultants L.L.C. He directs the work of both organizations, while specializing in economic development and government affairs.

“We try to be low key. We bring a lot of credibility; a breadth of networking,” said Dwyer, president of Leader Associates Inc., a business development and consulting firm, which evaluates environmental data and land development potential for municipalities, business and international interests. Dwyer is a former Bedford supervisor and councilman. He was also the president of the Westchester County Association from 1994 to 2003.

“People have an assumption about how government works. It’s as professional as banking,” Rich said. “We understand the mindset of politicians sitting across the table from entrepreneurs.”

UNDERSTANDING GOVERNMENT

Understanding politicians is an understatement; aside from Dwyer’s years in politics, Arace spent 22 years in government, serving in both the legislative and executive branches. After George Pataki took office in 1995, Arace was appointed regional director of the state Department of Economic Development for the Mid-Hudson Region. In 1999, he was promoted to vice president of regional economic development for the Empire State Development Corporation’s Mid-Hudson region. Prior to 1995, he was employed by the state Senate for 14 years, during which time he served as director of legislative programs for the Senate vice president, director of Senate corporations, authorities and commissions committee and assistant director of the Senate Environmental Conservation Committee.

Rich was vice president/regional director for Empire State Development in the five-county western New York area. He supervised a staff that designed and is building a $47 million urban entertainment project on the waterfront in Buffalo. Prior to his tenure with Empire State Development, he served as executive director of the Committee on Economic Development and Committee on Tourism in the state Senate, helping to write legislation establishing economic development policy for the state.

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