EFTA02329501.pdf

New York, NY 10065 Phone Email: 20 October 2011 USCIS Vermont Service Center ATTN: I-129 H-1B 75 Lower Welden Street St. Albans, VT 05479-0001 Re: Designs' H-lb Petition on Behalf of Ms. Dear Sir or Madam: Please find enclosed our H-1B New Employment Petition on behalf of Ms. , a British National. We wish to hire Ms. , on a full-time basis, as a Business Development Manager between November 1, 2011 and October 31, 2014. Her salary in this position will be $45,000.00 per year and she will enjoy standard benefits. The Petitioner: III Designs is the sole-proprietorship of Ms. ). III Designs have been working for one major client in the past year on several of his properties which he has all over the world; New York, Paris, the Caribbean, New Mexico and Florida. The largest of the projects is his home in the Caribbean, which is located on his private island. The Caribbean property has been undergoing major construction and renovations. We have been working on an African themed decor for this property. We are also working on the modernization and re-decoration of his properties in New Mexico, Paris and New York. Given the caliber and the size of the projects we are undertaking for this client, our business is garnering significant attention from other potential clients and we need to develop our business further. Because of this, we are looking to hire someone to help us with our current projects as well as with future ones. Without EFTA_R1_01258395 EFTA02329501 professional help, we cannot expand the business, which currently is at a tipping point. We need an Business Development Manager. This is a hybrid of interior design, business and marketing disciplines, as we will discuss below. would be a tremendous asset to our growing company as she has previous interior design experience as well as a Bachelor's degree in Commerce, majoring in Marketing and Business Management. Furthermore, she has significant formal training in interior design and has worked progressively in interior design for the last five years. I do not have a background in business and her experience and education in these areas would prove to be invaluable to me. An added bonus for my current project in the Caribbean is the fact that her interior design background is from Africa. I recently had to travel to Africa to source items for my project, which took valuable time away from me. has the contacts and experience from Africa, which would be a tremendous asset to my projects. The Position- Business Development Manager in Interior Design Everywhere we go, from a nightclub to an office to our own homes, we are usually surrounded by the same four walls, an inescapable reminder of the square shape of daily life. The true inspiration comes from what is done with the space inside these four walls, how the space is used and modified with fixtures, furniture, lighting. This is where art takes form, where the genius of a design comes to fruition. Interior design is not for the coward; like any art, it takes guts to design an interior in new and exciting ways. Like any art, it is also a skill that cannot be learned. It is an innate ability to understand the space to be utilized and form a design that is both functional and artistic, one that works in the mind of the client and in the mind of the interior design world. An Interior Designer is responsible for the concept, design, planning and implementation of creative and artistic ideas to adapt a space constrained by four walls into a creation that both astounds and delights even the most hardened critic. We not only design interior spaces; we also conceptualize and devise suitable lighting, equipment, furniture, and accessories as a vital element in the process to ultimately create a finished environment that exceeds the EFTA_R1_01258396 EFTA02329502 most exacting standards of interior design set by the client and by architectural design connoisseurs. Our work is an art form. It requires following trends and fashions. It requires utmost creativity combined with sharp technical skills. And our business grows in tandem with our projects and their reputation. Successful projects are our business cards, our most valuable form of advertising, marketing and publicity. However, interior design, albeit an art form, is also a very demanding business. Therefore, its proper management and development is as important as our creativity and technical skills in our craft. It is very rare for this business acumen to be present in a designer. Hence, just like any creative business, we need professionals running business and creative sides of the projects in tandem. An advertising agency would be a very good analogy: Most consumers see the creative output of an ad firm. However, under the hood, the ad firm is divided to two separate units—the business side, consisting of strategic planners, business developers and account/ client representatives and the creative side, consisting of creative and art directors, copywriters, and other artists. A successful interior design business is not any different. We need both the creative and business professionals. As I mentioned above, I am a very successful and creative designer. However, I am not good at business development, marketing and management. Therefore, I need a highly skilled professional to undertake these responsibilities for me. This is a necessity for my growth and success. Hence, III Designs, in this juncture of its growth, wishes to offer the position of Business Development Manager to the beneficiary. In this position, the beneficiary will be directly responsible for managing all business issues, especially concentrating on business development and marketing. The beneficiary, in this specialized position, will research and analyze the interior design market, target segments, and major competitors. She will establish short- term and long-term goals and develop detailed implementation plans. She will review and analyze the current business model, and streamline business structure and processes. In addition, she will create & develop marketing plans, promotional tools and programs, and action plans; redefine EFTA_R1_01258397 EFTA02329503 target market and potential clients; and develop an action plan with time schedule in which to obtain new major clients. Essentially, the Business Development Manager, in consultation with the Interior Designer, will have overall managerial responsibility for all business decisions relating to strategy planning, finance, marketing, sales plans, advertising and public relations. Specifically, she will: develop the overall strategic direction with the creative team for the business including growing revenues, growing the client base, developing the appropriate web strategy and controlling costs grow the business to reach financial targets of positive cash flow and profitability ensure that resources are in place to carry out the business plan including recruiting additional personnel and outsourcing certain functions to external vendors develop strategies for marketing materials create business proposals in connection with the creative team attend trade fairs, especially in interior design and construction materials, to find and secure vendors and unique building/ decoration materials create editorials/ narratives of our design projects with visual elements provided by the creative team, such as photographs and 3D designs, using her interior design and marketing knowledge and use them as promotional materials solicit interior design and in traditional abovementioned editorial tools publications, both digital media, to publish the s/ narratives as marketing develop sales goals and create a plan to implement them In addition, she will analyze financial information to prepare reports which summarize and forecast the company's EFTA_R1_01258398 EFTA02329504 business activity and financial position in areas of income, expenses, and earnings, based on past, present, and expected operations. In addition she will assist in establishing recommending to management economic objectives and policies for the company. The beneficiary will also prepare budgets and reports required by regulatory agencies. The beneficiary will also audit contracts, orders, and vouchers, and prepares reports to substantiate individual transactions prior to settlement. The beneficiary must have a detailed understanding of the interior design industry. In addition, she must possess strong financial analysis skills including the ability to set and meet financial goals. The beneficiary must show demonstrated strategic analysis and formulation skills and be well-versed in the history and contemporary trends of the interior design business. The duties and responsibilities of the Business Development Manager at III Designs are clearly those of a "specialty occupation" because they could only be satisfactorily performed by an individual possessing advanced knowledge of business, marketing, management, and administration as evidenced by a U.S. bachelor's degree or the overseas equivalent in Business Administration or Marketing. The individual must be capable of working in a high-pressure business environment maintaining close attention to detail regarding all the elements of business management, strategy and business development and finance. The specific duties are so specialized and complex that the knowledge required to perform the duties is usually associated with the attainment of a baccalaureate or higher degree. Each of the responsibilities associated with this specialty occupation require the special academic training and sophisticated knowledge normally associated with a minimum of a Bachelor's or Master's Degree in Business, Marketing or Management. Only an individual with this level of academic preparation is capable of discharging the professionally sophisticated responsibilities of this specialty occupation. Under 8 C.F.R. 214.2(h)(4)(iii)(A), this qualifies the position as a specialty occupation. The degree of expertise required to perform the duties of this position commands an annual salary of $45,000.00 in addition to usual company benefits. EFTA_R1_01258399 EFTA02329505 Please note that the above responsibilities will be Ms. sole duties. She will not be responsible for non- qualifying duties. Such non-qualifying duties will be undertaken by clerical staff who will be hired as needed on a project-by-project basis. As you can see, a Business Development Manager in Interior Design, an extremely competitive industry, is extremely complicated. Therefore, for this position we require at least a Bachelor's degree in Interior Design, Art or related field as it is the industry standard. With an obtained Bachelor's degree in Marketing or Management with background in the Interior Design Industry. With an obtained Bachelor's in Commerce degree with concentrations on Marketing and Business Administration from The University of Stellenbosch in South Africa and completed certificates in Interior Design from the BHC School of Design in Cape Town, South Africa, along with over five (5) years of progressive experience in the Interior Design industry, we can unequivocally confirm that Ms. easily meets our needs. Given our needs and her qualifications, we wish to employ Ms. as a Business Development Manager in Interior Design for three (3) years between November 1, 2011 and October 31, 2014. Her initial salary in this position will be $45,000.00 per annum and she will enjoy standard company benefits. With this letter we also attest that the three (3) years requested is within the allowable H-lb period of Ms. Thank you for your time and consideration in this matter. Please do not hesitate to contact me with any additional questions or concerns. Sincerely yours, Owner/ Designer EFTA_R1_01258400 EFTA02329506