‘Soul of a Beast’, directed by Lorenz Merz with Pablo Caprez in the leading role, was shown on Saturday, March 5, 2022 at the Silverspot Cinema in Miami Downtown. ‘Soul of a Beast’ is a love story, a pulsating affair set in a crumbling urban world and following a delirious summer rush.

After the film screening and a Q&A session that took place immediately after the showing at the cinema, both Lorenz Merz and Pablo Caprez joined the Swiss American Chamber of Commerce, Florida Chapter for a cocktail reception at the Cubaocho Art Cafe, one of the iconic landmarks in Little Havana, where art, music, dance, cigars and mojitos converge.

We would like to say thank you to the management of Cubaocho who were extremely forthcoming in hosting us and making us feel at home. We would also like to thank Pablo and Lorenz for being such nice guests of honor.

Annual Meeting of Membership

On Thursday, April 14, 2022 at 6:30pm the Annual Meeting of the SACCFL Members took place with the following agenda:

• 1. Election of new Directors of the Board.
• 2. Financials
• 3. SACCFL new website
• 4. Past and future Events
• 5. Ideas/Expectations for 2022
• 6. Apero – Cebada Rooftop.

On March 11, 2022, the Swiss-American Chamber of Commerce, Florida Chapter (SACCFL), has held for the 3^rd consecutive time its Swiss Miami Golf Open at the Club at Weston Hills, home of two magnificent golf courses, created by world-renowned designer, Robert Trent Jones Jr.

This year we teamed up with ‘The First Tee Miami’ an organization that is focused on impacting the lives of young people. They provide educational programs that build character, instill life-enhancing values and promote healthy choices through the game of golf! A substantial portion of the proceeds was donated to this fabulous organization that was present on the day of tournament with three skilled young girls who challenged the players in a ‘Beat the Girl’ competition.

The success of this year’s event would not have been possible without the great support of our sponsors such as Sealand, Bacardi, Norqain, Dufry, Edelweiss, Villiger, Royal Caribbean Group, Ulysse Nardin, Fracht USA or Vontobel. Their contributions whether in the form of generous cash donations or fantastic prices such as an Ulysse Nardin watch, two business class tickets TPA-ZRH-TPA with Edelweiss Air, a cruise to the Caribbean with Royal Caribbean and many more were highly appreciated.

We would also like to thank the Club at Weston Hills who has been supportive in making it easy for us to organize this event. Last but not least, we would like to thank all the participants who made this year’s golf tournament a successful and memorable event.

The 2023 edition of the Swiss-American Golf Open will be announced on SACCFL’s new website in time and we look forward to welcoming every player irrespective of his/her handicap or affiliation to the SACCFL.

Thank you to all participants for making the cocktail reception for H.E. Jacques Pitteloud, Ambassador of Switzerland to the United States and his spouse Madame Angelique Gakoko Pitteloud a memorable Miami evening during 2021 Art Basel Miami.

We would like to extend our thanks to the Consulate of Switzerland in Miami, represented by its Honorary Consul Ferdinand Kurt, but also to Mr. John A. Bernhard, Honorary Consul in Houston, Texas, and Mrs. Christine Pfister , Honorary Consul of Philadelphia who both happened to be in town.

Our special thanks go to our sponsors: General Consulate of Switzerland in Atlanta, Bank Vontobel and Villiger Cigars North America as well as The Ritz-Carlton South-Beach under the leadership of Mrs. Jacqueline Volkart for hosting the event.

We wish you a Happy Holiday Season as well as a good start to an exciting New Year!

Rene Riedi
Chairman of the Florida Chapter of the Swiss-American Chamber of Commerce

Speaker:
Tobias Meyer, General Counsel Corporate & Chief Compliance Officer, Dufry Group

Topic:
Environment, Social & Governance – Differences between Switzerland and the USA

Other Guest Speakers:
Roman Tschannen, Global Real Estate Advisor – International Division at ONE | Sotheby’s International Realty
Sascha Lang, VP Architectural & Design, Newbuild & Innovation – Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd.
Marc Streit, Board Member – Norqain (and Swiss Ice Hockey legend)

Topics covered:
Real Estate Market in South Florida (Swiss Perspective)
Future of the Cruise Ship Industry
Mark Streit on his book “Against All Odds”

The Swiss Club Miami and the Florida Chapter of the Swiss American Chamber of Commerce organized the 2nd edition of our joint annual Golf Tournament for the Swiss community and Friends of Switzerland in South Florida!

The event took place at the spectacular Crandon Golf Course.
In Key Biscayne on May 1st, 2021.

We welcomed 100 golfers for the tournament followed by a buffet luncheon and the award ceremony. In addition, organized a “warm-up get together” for our sponsors and participants!