I am Colm Rafferty, Asia Pacific Vice President for Vermeer Corporation and Chairman of Vermeer China. I seek your vote for election to the AmCham China 2016 Board of Governors as well as election to the role of Vice Chairman. As a member of AmCham China since 2003 and the current Vice Chair of the Policy Committee, I have witnessed how our company has gained significant value from AmCham over the years. If elected, I will be a strong advocate for American businesses in China and will strive to help our members resolve practical challenges and pursue new opportunities in this exciting and complex environment.
Vermeer advocates for the interest of U.S. businesses around the world. In the United States, Vermeer is an active participant in the President’s Export Council (PEC). Vermeer’s CEO is the recent former Chairwoman of the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM), the largest industrial trade association and lobbying group in the U.S. In China, I was one of the U.S. business community delegates to the U.S. China Strategic and Economic Dialogue (S&ED) Business Roundtable in 2014 at Diaoyutai.
I received an MBA from the Yale School of Management, and a Bachelor of Arts degree in East Asian Studies from Brown University. I currently serve on the Yale School of Management’s Greater China Advisory Board and am a member of the Executive Committee for the Beijing Chapter of the Young Presidents’ Organization (YPO).
Please feel free to reach out to me if you would like to discuss how to get more involved in AmCham. Also, I hope to receive advice on how to best represent your needs.