Business in Washington DC during the Shutdown

One week trip to Washington DC and it starts with the Governmental Shutdown. Not the best start. Seems that everything can happen during the week - my thoughts during the first day.

As a member company of AFDA, association of Finnish defence and aerospace industry, we had a great opportunity to be part of commercial finnish delegation. Our schedule was full of meetings with industrial partners and one full day seminar in Embassy of Finland, where topics were related to security issues.

We at Eigenor are dedicated to enter US market and are actively seeking partners who can benefit from our technology creating win-win business for all. As an SME we understand that partnerships are important for us, since we want concentrate on our core competence, advanced mathematics that is turned into efficient software. Discussions with potential partners such as Raytheon, Lockheed Martin and Boeing will have follow-ups during next weeks. It's interesting to see how huge organization and an agile SME match their schedules and rhythm of life to promote mutual benefit.

Even though the week included these governmental issues as well as one shooting incident near the Capitol, the business negotiations went smoothly. Exceptional weather made the week in DC even better, sunshine and hot days, where as winter is getting closer in Finland. I could have stayed in DC for longer easily, such a nice place. When considering overseas office, DC is one of the top spots if you ask me.

Max Salmi
Vice President, Technology
Eigenor Corporation