(E) Croatian inventors pitch product ideas to potential U.S. partners
Croatian inventors pitch product ideas to potential U.S. partners
Dayton, Croatian businesses come together
Dayton Business Journal - 5:17 PM EDT Monday
Yvonne Teems
DBJ Staff Reporter
Several Croatian inventors were in Dayton Monday to pitch product ideas to potential U.S. partners and continue the networking that has progressed within the past decade.
The visitors were here for the International Business and Trade Luncheon, hosted by Dayton Area Chamber of Commerce, the city of Dayton and the Dayton Daily News. The luncheon featured five Croatian inventors and a representative from the Zagreb Chamber of Commerce.
The purpose of the event was to encourage relationships among Croatian and American businesses, said keynote speaker Zlatko Pavicic, the Zagreb chamber's department manager.
The Dayton chamber has hosted similar events that have featured larger businesses and Zagreb city officials, said Thomas Biedenharn, director of the Department of Public Affairs for the city of Dayton.
Monday's luncheon featured several small businesses that want to tap into the American economy.
For example, a Zagreb-based company called Altpro, which produces safety devices for railroad tracks, has partners in many European countries and sales of $5 million per year, said manager Darko Barisic. While the 17-employee company cannot compete with American companies in terms of technology, it is able to specialize its products in ways larger companies cannot.
Other inventions featured at the luncheon included a steering system for handicapped drivers, a vapor emission control system, a medication that helps smokers stay healthy and a button that helps the disabled open doors.
John McCance said he attended the luncheon to gear up for the annual November celebration of the signing of the Dayton Peace Accord. He is vice chair of The Public Diplomacy and Policy Group, a sub-committee of Dayton: A Peace Process, which holds the November event,
The accord, signed at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base Nov. 21, 1995, established peace between Croatia and Yugoslavia after years of fighting, particularly in Bosnia.
Dayton is one of several cities the Croatian delegates are visiting in their five-day tour, which also includes stops in Cincinnati and Pittsburgh.
E-mail yrteems@bizjournals.com Call 222-6900, ext. 127.
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