Management Team   

  
Sven C. Oehme, Founder, President & CEO
 
Mr. Oehme is a recognized expert in European-American affairs. Until 1998 he served as Managing Director of the European-American Chamber of Commerce, Inc.  (EACC) with special responsibilities for the chamber's legal department. Before joining the EACC in 1991, Mr. Oehme held numerous executive positions for subsidiaries of Gruner+Jahr, the magazine and newspaper publishing division of the German media company Bertelsmann.

He studied law and economics at the University of Hamburg, Germany and is admitted to the bar in Hamburg. Mr. Oehme's earned a Master of Laws degree in International Business and Trade Law with a focus on European law from Fordham University, Graduate School of Law, New York.

Mr. Oehme frequently speaks at trade and professional groups as well as universities on developments in the European Union and EU-U.S. commercial and trade relations. Specifically, his expertise includes European Economic and Monetary Union, the Euro and international trade.

He produces and anchors a weekly news show on public access television and is the President of the Board of Directors of Larchmont Mamaroneck Community Television. Mr. Oehme is a director of the American Foreign Law Association, a member of the Advisory Committee of the European Union Studies Center of the Graduate School and University Center of the City University of New York and a member of the Board of Advisors of the Weissmann Center for International Business at Baruch College.
oehme@eabo.biz
 

 
John M. Zindar, Partner

Mr. Zindar has fifteen years experience in economic and business development in Europe and Latin America in both the private and public sectors. He has served as advisor to the Minister of Economics of Germany as well as the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Panama.

He is an expert on investment incentives in the European Union and is a specialist in other services for foreign investors such as cross-cultural negotiations and due diligence, marketing and distribution, PR/CR, technology transfers, partnering and acquisitions.

His record includes successfully assisting overseas operations decision-makers in the aerospace, agriculture, automotive, biotech, chemicals, construction, energy, environmental, food processing, glass, ICT, medical, paper and water industries.

Mr. Zindar has also worked as a teacher/trainer, journalist/business writer, risk analyst and U.S. army intelligence officer with Meritorious Service. He is widely published, is a frequent speaker at industry events and has given expert testimony before both the U.S. Congress and the United Nations.

He is a Phi Beta Kappa with an MA in international economics from Johns Hopkins and an MBA from the Edinburgh Business School. Besides his native United States, he has lived in Germany, Italy, Panama, Costa Rica and Mexico.
zindar@eabo.biz
 

 

Tiia Henttonen, Executive Assistant
 
In addition to her role at EABO, Ms. Henttonen is the membership coordinator for the American Business Forum on Europe and the Project Manager for its EICC service.

Ms. Henttonen received her master’s degree from the University of Helsinki, Finland, in the Department of Translation Studies. She also studied in Russia at both the Linguistic University of St. Petersburg and the Moscow Linguistic University, and has completed studies in international marketing and economics.

She has worked for international companies both in Finland and the USA, especially in the travel industry and in translation.

Besides her native Finnish, she speaks English, Russian and Swedish. 
tiia.henttonen@eabo.biz

 
Henry G. Meyer-Oertel, Partner

Mr. Meyer-Oertel, has a strong management background gained  in leading American and German marketing and publishing companies among others as Executive Vice President of Gruner+Jahr International in New York City.  He assists clients in a wide range of industrial and business areas including communications, economic development and tourism.

Mr. Meyer-Oertel received his graduate Degree (Dipl.-Kfm.) from the Business School of the University of Vienna, Austria and his MBA Degree from the University of Chicago. He is the author of many articles on change in the advertising industry.

He is a member of the International Advertising Association in New York and a former President, Vice President and Treasurer of that organization.  He also serves as President of the German Forum Inc, a not-for-profit organization supporting German-American cultural programs.
HMeyerOertel@eabo.biz
 

Julie A. Lerner, Managing Director
 
Ms. Lerner has an international business development background and has lived and worked in the US, Europe and Latin America. She began her career as commodity trader with Cargill International, S.A. in Geneva, Switzerland and four years later, she became their senior sugar market trader for Latin America. 

While well-versed in international commodity trading, Ms. Lerner's career has always emphasized strategic development of customer-facing businesses.   She was one of two specialist selected by Phibro, Inc. (Citigroup) to revive firm’s international sugar department and was Vice President of Business Development for the nascent US electricity market for Sempra Energy Trading.   Most recently, she was hired by XL Financial, Weather and Energy division to expand their weather risk management practice into agricultural industries.

Her market analysis has been published in Environmental Finance and by Knight-Ridder News Service. Just prior to joining EABO, Ms. Lerner was an independent consultant, working on projects involving online and print marketing and public relations campaigns for small businesses.  She is fluent in Spanish and proficient in French.  She holds a BSBA in Finance from Boston University.
julie@eabo.biz  

Birgit Findeis, Director Tax Services
 
Birgit Findeis has over 14 years of professional experience as a  lawyer, tax advisor and accountant. She began her professional career in Germany with KPMG in Munich, Germany and later spent 18 months with KPMG in Bratislava, Slovakia, were she started to specialize in international tax issues.  In 1999, she was hired by BDO Germany as a Senior Manager and was assigned to BDO in New York by the end of 2000.  As a Senior Manager in the International tax department, her role was to oversee the service needs of German clients and to serve middle-market business and selected high net worth individuals.

Ms. Findeis has worked intensively with European investors and European business interests investing and/or doing business in the US with a focus on German-speaking Europe.  In addition to her international tax background, she is well experienced in German income, corporate and estate tax matters as well in US corporate, partnership, individual and estate tax issues.

Ms. Findeis received her law degree from the University of Munich in Germany and is a certified Wirtschaftsprüfer and tax advisor (Steuerberater.)
birgit.findeis@eabo.biz