Belgian Cycling Icon Eddy Merckx To Ride For Charity In NYC's Central Park This November

Online, October 17, 2009 (Newswire.com) - NEW YORK - For foreign businesses in the United States, one way to beat the weak economy is to look locally to a good neighbor for innovative collaborations. And New York-based Belgian-American Chamber of Commerce (BACC) is one such good neighbor.

"The BACC has created a new Strategic Business Center to offer an accessible pool of Belgian and U.S. business talents as pro-bono counselors to U.S.-based Belgian entrepreneurs," explains Olivier Smekens, President & Chief Executive of BACC, and also Vice President & Senior Banker with KBC USA Bank. Supporters and participants of the Strategic Business Center include Anheuser-Busch InBev, Boston Consulting Group, Bekaert, KBC Bank, Agfa Gevaert, W Hotels, White & Case and BNP Paribas Fortis.

In lieu of its new mission, the BACC will present the "Belgian-American Entrepreneur of the Year" award to a Belgian-American business this year at the Annual BACC Gala event. The Gala is scheduled for November 14, 2009 at New York City's W Hotel.

BACC will also honor Baron Eddy Merckx with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Gala. A Belgian icon lauded by the U.S. media as the greatest and most successful cyclist of all time, Eddy Merckx has won numerous championships such as Tour de France, Giro d'Italia and the Spanish Vuelta between the '60s and '70s. After his cycling career, he turned entrepreneurial and started "EMX", a growing bike frame building business in Belgium where he currently resides.

Smekens adds, "Eddy Merckx embodies true entrepreneurial spirit and is whom BACC considers an exemplary business role-model. Merckx sets his company for financial success and still remembers to make his investments meaningful by supporting non-profits."

This year, Eddy Merckx and BACC have joined hands to ensure success in supporting an American charity. Based in New Jersey, Children's Lightning Wheels promotes physical fitness and sportsmanship for aspiring and professional athletes with disabilities. Other Belgian entrepreneurs committed to this venture include Professor Carlotte Kiekens, a world-known specialist in physical medicine and revalidation, and Marc Herremans, a professional wheelchair thriathlete and Ironman.

Merckx will also lead a bike-ride fundraiser on the morning of November 14 at Central Park. "Ride in the Park with Eddy Merckx" will start at 10:30am and co-host by Central Park Bike Tours. Wafels & Dinges will provide energy-packed Belgian waffles to riders. The bike, which Merckx will ride on, will be auctioned off at the Gala. Participation fee is US$100.00, limited to 70 people. Proceeds go to Children's Lightning Wheels.

Since 1918, BACC plays an integral role in facilitating inter-country business communications and trade research, and recently, provide pro-bono, experienced trade consultancy for its members. This year, BACC also started four new chapters in Atlanta, Boston, Silicon Valley and Chicago.

For more information on "The BACC Gala Entrepreneurship Awards", Baron Eddy Merckx's "Lifetime Achievement Award" and his "Ride in the Park with Eddy Merckx" fundraiser, or initiatives by the BACC to provide timely and industry-related consultancy and expertise network to its U.S. based members, please visit www.belcham.org .

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Editor's Note: For more information on the press release or to speak with Mr. Olivier Smekens, President of BACC, please contact Vivien Teo of Vroom Media Group at 646-355-8836 or email [email protected].