The 3,500 members of the Chapter are an indication of the huge proportions of the French-American Chamber of Commerce (FACC). The bilateral organisation, founded in 1896 for the purpose of stimulating business on both sides of the Atlantic, is divided into 21 Chapters (20 in the United States and one in Paris). Given the vastness of the country, the American Chapters have developed as totally autonomous structures, although some FACCs are more influential than others by virtue of their region's economic dynamism. The New York Chapter, for instance, is considered a matrix and has established itself as the U.S. administration's preferred interlocutor. Another charismatic chapter is the San Francisco Chapter, owing to its region's international influence, particularly in the high-tech and life science sectors – especially in Silicon Valley, the promised land of all IT engineers and specialists, birthplace of the microprocessor in 1971, and home to several thousand seasoned IT companies.
The San Francisco Chapter of the French-American Chamber of Commerce (FACCSF) encompasses all of northern California, from Sacramento to Morgan Hill, south of San José. (There is another FACC in Los Angeles for southern California.) Since 1978 the FACCSF has been leading the 180 members of the region's Franco-American business community.
"We distinguish between three distinct sectors in the San Francisco chapter," explains Carole Granade, who directs the FACCSF. "The first group consists of players in the high-tech and life science industries, and the service industries that gravitate around them. This group is about sixty strong, or a third of our membership. The second third is composed of managers in the business services sector – B-to-B consultants, lawyers, corporate bankers, accountants and venture capital partners. The last third concerns consumer goods, wine-making, the restaurant industry, travel agencies, physicians, decorators, and so on."
The first French fair
Developing trade between France and northern California is the main mission of this independent organisation, a member of the UCCIFE, the union of French Chambers of Commerce abroad. With the cooperation of all its industries, the FACCSF organises no less than 50 events each year. These include consciousness-raising conferences on given themes, like the seminar on venture capital slated for 26 January in Palo Alto; regularly scheduled "Women in Business" luncheons (next to be held on 8 March 2006); and sector-based events such as high-tech conferences held in September, November, January and April, and biotech meetings, also held four times a year. "On 29 April 2006, as part of the events marking the 10th anniversary of the twinning of Paris with San Francisco, our team will organise the first French market," adds Granade. "It should take the shape of a street fair, a popular American concept which is a kind of open-air expo in the heart of the city. In this case it should take place behind the Ferry Building near the Embarcadero. Companies that make French or French-style products will exhibit their wares."
For it is preferable not to mention the French boycott to a Californian, a San Franciscan at any rate. France's stand on Iraq on the eve of the conflict caused very little backlash in Frisco. "When I arrived at the Chamber of Commerce," recounts Granade, "the United States was just going to war against Iraq. Although I did receive a few insulting messages on my voice mail, it was really nothing in comparison with the number of expressions of support and encouragement that came in at the same time. The French Consulate in San Francisco received close to 850 letters, 80 percent of which were sympathetic. As for French industrialists set up here, I don't think they suffered from any animosity. Don't forget that the population in the region is largely Democrat."
Understanding venture capital
Aside from organising events, the FACCSF has developed a counselling and support centre for French companies seeking to reach the American market. First of all, the Chamber can be very helpful for the many VIEs, Volunteers for International Experience, whose sights are set on California. The Franco-American Chambers of Commerce, and in particular the New York Chapter, have been authorised by the U.S. State Department to issue form DS-2019, which is the first step towards obtaining a J-1 visa (an 18-month visa generally issued to trainees in companies). The FACCSF is the chapter that receives the highest number of applications for J-1 visas.
"The only visas that are still really difficult for French employees to obtain are permanent work visas, of the H-1 type," points out Granade. "Immigration offices hardly ever deliver those anymore. There is still the possibility of winning a visa in the green card lottery (editor's note: registration every year in early October) – that's how I got my American citizenship, as did many of my staff."
Among the FACCSF's other tasks are putting company directors in touch with French partners, organising exploratory trips, publishing job ads for positions in companies that have ties with the Chamber, and presenting them with bilingual applicants. This support is indispensable, says Granade, especially in light of the cultural gap in business between Americans and the French. The problem in fact lies in the notion of venture capital, a form of financing that is very widespread in the United States and all too rare in Europe. VC, a high-risk investment in an innovative company which offers the potential for above-average returns if the company is successful, appeals strongly to European entrepreneurs, often weary of the overcautious European banking system.
"I regularly have French entrepreneurs come into my office, typically small high-tech companies looking for venture capital," says Granade. "But these company directors have a lot of demands. For instance, they want to retain majority control of their company or develop their business in the United States while keeping their head offices in France. And when I ask them how much capital they want, the answer is between 200,000 and 300,000 dollars, which is more like a bank investment."
Faced with French business leaders unfamiliar with VC practice, the Chamber's role will be to explain the consequences of a venture capitalist's investment in a development project. It will inform entrepreneurs that in view of the high risk, VCs will ask for involvement and control in the structures they invest in, and it will make them aware of the size of the sums generally invested (sometimes between 8 and 10 million dollars). Through dialogue, meetings with VCs and advice from specialised lawyers, the FACCSF will help executives make sense of the investment scene and come to a final decision.
VCs bore heavy responsibility for the creation and then for the bursting of the internet bubble during the late '90s and into the 21st century; but it is also thanks to venture capital that the sector has been emerging from the crisis over the past year or two. Innovative young enterprises are popular again and investments are rallying in consequence.
The FACCSF has focussed its support of recovery efforts on the high-tech and biotech sectors. Last year Carole Granade and her teams initiated the Start-up Booster, which consists in an 8-week training course that "pre-incubates" business projects. The positive results should encourage the San Francisco chapter to offer the course again twice a year as from this year, with the first term devoted to life sciences and the second to high-tech.
The growing number of requests from companies in the sectors of mass distribution and the food and wine-making industries will soon lead to new tasks for the FACCSF. There is indeed a considerable French presence in the wine-related professions that concern the grape varieties of the Napa Valley, north of the San Francisco Bay, and it needs to be consolidated. In the meantime the Frisco Chamber invites interested parties to celebrate the Beaujolais nouveau on 18 November 2006!
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