Maine's Honorary Consuls Press Release

 Press Release

May 4, 2009

For Immediate Release

Click here for pdf download version of the press release

Panel of Honorary Consuls to present at World Affairs Council's Annual Meeting  

PORTLAND, ME -- Maine may be the most northeast state in the country, but that doesn’t mean the international community has overlooked the Pine Tree State. While most people are familiar with the international Embassies and Ambassadors that populate Washington, D.C., and Consulates in places like New York City and Boston, it may come as a surprise that several countries have appointed a representative -- known as an Honorary Consul -- to Maine.

On June 4, you’ll have a chance to learn more about Maine’s Honorary Consuls when the World Affairs Council of Maine hosts a panel discussion with Adrian Kendall, Severin M. Beliveau, Perry Newman and Simon Leeming, Honorary Consuls representing Germany, France, Canada and New Zealand, respectively.

The evening will begin at 4 p.m. with the annual meeting, to be followed by cocktails and dinner at 5:00 p.m. The panel discussion is from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m., and will include opportunities for questions and answers. John LaBrie, executive director of the World Affairs Council of Maine, will facilitate the discussion, which will cover the history and role of Honorary Consuls in Maine, as well as the panelists’ experience and connection to their representative countries.

Following are brief biographies of the participating Honorary Consuls.

Adrian Kendall, Honorary Consul for Maine and New Hampshire, for the Federal Republic of Germany, spent more than a decade living abroad in both the United Kingdom and Germany.

After earning his Juris Doctor, cum laude, from the University of Maine School of Law, Adrian worked for 5 years in a law firm known for its admiralty law expertise. He joined the Portland law firm Norman, Hanson & DeTroy in 1997, where his practice includes corporate law, general and international commercial law, land use and real estate law.

He began his close working relationship with the German Consulate in Boston in 2000, when he was appointed as a "trusted attorney" by the German Foreign Office. Mr. Kendall served as Special Adviser to Governor Baldacci on the 2004 Trade Mission to Germany and Northern Italy and briefed New Hampshire Governor Lynch and other participants prior to the 2005 New Hampshire Gubernatorial Trade Mission to Germany, the Czech Republic, and the Ukraine. In 2007, the German President Horst Koehler appointed Adrian as Honorary Consul for Maine and New Hampshire. 

A former member of the Board of Directors of the World Affairs Council, Adrian has also worked closely with the Maine and New Hampshire International Trade Centers. He is often a featured speaker on international business issues, but particularly enjoys outreach involving high school and college students.

Severin M. Beliveau, Honorary Consul of France in Maine, was instrumental in organizing Gov. Baldacci’s trade mission to France in 2005, which generated more than $5 million in first-year sales. He is Distinguished Professor of Franco American Studies at the University of Maine, and recipient of the French Legion of Honor Award, the highest distinction France awards civilians, for his leadership on key projects to improve the relationship between Maine and France (2008).

Mr. Beliveau serves as President of the American Association of the Forum Francophone des Affaires, the Maine-based U.S. chapter of a worldwide alliance of 36 French-speaking nations working to promote economic development through business, industry and technology exchanges. As former director of the bipartisan American Council of Young Political Leaders, he helped promote cultural and political exchange programs among NATO countries and Eastern Europe. His work took him to Moscow, Leningrad, Riga, and Tbilisi in the former Soviet Union. He also served on political leadership committees dealing with U.S.-Canadian relations, European security, the environment, and technological change. He is a Founding Partner of Preti Flaherty and directs the firm’s Legislative and Regulatory practice in Augusta and Washington, D.C.

Perry B. Newman was appointed Canada’s first Honorary Consul to Maine in 2004. He has organized and coordinated trade missions to Western Europe, Russia, Asia, Canada and Latin America, and has assisted technology-driven businesses in their market entry and strategic development efforts in both established and emerging markets. Prior to founding the Atlantica Group in Portland in 2000, he served as Maine’s first Director of International Trade and first President of the Maine International Trade Center. During his tenure as president, the National Association of State Development Agencies named the Maine International Trade Center the "most innovative economic development organization" in the country. Selected by the European Union Delegation in Washington, D.C., to study cross-border infrastructure development in Brussels and Copenhagen, Mr. Newman formed Atlantica Group in order to serve clients with international business and development objectives.

Mr. Newman is an established author and sought-after speaker on issues including: cross-border economic development, foreign investment attraction, the impacts of globalization and creative cluster development. He has been nominated by the United States Secretary of Commerce in two presidential administrations to serve on the Maine District Export Council.

Mr. Newman currently serves on the board of Directors of the Atlantic Institute of Market Studies ("AIMS"), the Port Authority of Maine, the Board of Directors of the French American Chamber of Commerce for New England, the Board of Directors of the New England Canada Business Council and has recently been named to the Board of Directors of the New England-Israel Business Council. He is the author of Atlantica: Re-Mapping Maine for the New Economy.

Simon Leeming is a director at Preti, Flaherty, Beliveau, & Pachious LLP, a regional New England law firm with offices in Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Maine, where he concentrates in commercial law, finance and the representation of businesses. His practice includes New Zealand’s interest in doing business in the United States.

Mr. Leeming serves as New Zealand’s Honorary Consul to the six New England States. He hosts an annual hangi which has become legendary to New Zealand expatriates in the United States. Mr. Leeming is active with a number of nonprofit organizations and charities. He is qualified to practice as an attorney in Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Maine and as a barrister and solicitor in New Zealand. Mr. Leeming was born in Dunedin, New Zealand, and is married with five children residing in New Hampshire.

We hope you will join us for this engaging and informative evening. To learn more, contact the council's office at 207-780-4552 or e-mail  the World Affairs Council of Maine, at info@wacmaine.org. You can also visit the World Affairs Council of Maine’s website at www.wacmaine.org.

The World Affairs Council of Maine is a nonpartisan nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting the understanding of international affairs and supporting international education in Maine.