Bridging borders: AmCham Georgia at the 2025 SelectUSA Summit

Georgia may be small on the map, yet at the 2025 SelectUSA Summit its business ambitions loomed large. Focused on expanding transatlantic ties, a delegation of Georgian business leaders set out not just to make connections, but to forge lasting partnerships across the Atlantic.

From May 11–14, 2025, a delegation of Georgian business leaders joined AmCham Georgia President Irakli Baidashvili and Executive Director George Welton at the annual SelectUSA Investment Summit in National Harbor, Maryland. The visit, led in cooperation with U.S. Ambassador to Georgia Robin Dunnigan, underscored the growing ambition of Georgian firms to expand their presence in the United States—and the pivotal role that AmCham Georgia plays in strengthening these commercial connections.

As President of AmCham Georgia Irakli Baidashvili summarized, “With over 50 attendees in 2025, we were one of the biggest delegations from Europe and larger than the UK. We were by far the largest delegation relative to the size of our economy. This reflects the strong and enduring interest that Georgian businesses have in the U.S. market and the transatlantic relationship.”

Hosted by the U.S. Department of Commerce, SelectUSA is the United States’ premier event to promote foreign direct investment. This year’s summit offered Georgian delegates a high-level platform to engage with U.S. government officials, state economic development agencies, and global business leaders across a range of industries.In addition to attending the summit itself, the AmCham delegation took part in several strategic meetings in Washington, D.C., including sessions with the U.S. National Security Council, the U.S. State Department, and the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation. AmCham’s leadership also met with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Senior Vice President for Global Initiatives Gary Litman and the Business Executives for National Security. The visit concluded with a reception hosted by the American Georgia Business Council, offering a fitting close to a week rich in dialogue and opportunity.

Smart cities and startups

Georgian companies in real estate, consulting, and technology used the summit to scale their U.S. presence. Tamaz Tavadze of Construction Management Company (CMC) is leading a development project in Coshocton, Ohio based on a smart city concept. Although CMC’s plans were already underway before SelectUSA, Tavadze noted that the summit helped clarify regulatory processes and provided valuable access to federal and state officials. “The real advantage,” he said, “was how ready U.S. authorities were to assist.”

For Georgian entrepreneurs building digital solutions, the summit also opened new doors. Lela Gochitashvili, founder of Orson Co., is developing Clerix, an AI-powered legal tech platform that simplifies legal and financial operations for startups, offering automated solutions for company formation, legal document generation, and financial planning. “The U.S. ecosystem is incredibly structured and welcoming to international startups,” she said. “In addition to the Women in Tech and LegalTech breakout discussions at the summit, a meeting organized with the U.S. Department of State facilitated by the U.S. Embassy in Georgia provided crucial guidance on incorporation and compliance requirements in the U.S.”

Following the summit, Clerix secured early-stage investment and will soon start the legal incorporation process in Delaware. Gochitashvili plans to pitch the platform at next year’s SelectUSA Summit.

Georgian brands abroad

The Georgian-American International School Progress used the summit as a launchpad for expansion in the U.S. education sector. Founding Director Nino Chikvashvili described the event as a turning point: “It helped us move beyond theoretical planning and toward a data-informed, localized expansion strategy.” At the summit and its associated events, Chikvashvili says she was able to identify new partnership opportunities with service providers, including real estate groups, education consultants, and legal experts, which her business plans to leverage as they build their first representative office in the U.S.

“Through targeted discussions and state-led presentations, we were able to critically assess how our strategy aligns with the United States’ national priorities, particularly in the areas of workforce development, STEM education, and equitable access to quality learning. This alignment is vital, as it enables us to position our Georgian-American educational model as both relevant and responsive to the needs of the U.S. market.”

The delegation also included companies supporting Georgian cultural and culinary expansion abroad. Founder of Exportinvest Business Consultancy Khatia Nikoleishvili is working with clients—including the popular restaurant chain Pasanauri—to identify strategic U.S. locations and partners for Georgian restaurant openings. For the second year, both Nikoleishvili and several of her clients returned to the summit “with clearer objectives, stronger networks, and more defined investment pathways.”

For Nikoleishvili, the summit reaffirmed Exportinvest’s role as a critical intermediary: “SelectUSA has become a core tool in the early-stage internationalization process,” she said, noting how AmCham Georgia and the U.S. Embassy in Tbilisi have helped make these cross-border ambitions viable.

AmCham’s continued support

Throughout the summit, AmCham Georgia served as more than a participant—it was an active facilitator. Its longstanding engagement with U.S. institutions and its role as a connector between Georgian business and American opportunity made the trip valuable for many participants.

“The support and credibility of AmCham Georgia and the U.S. Embassy in Tbilisi have been essential,” said Nikoleishvili. “[AmCham’s] involvement transforms short-term participation into long-term strategic engagement.”

This sentiment was echoed across the delegation, where multiple participants emphasized how AmCham’s connections and advocacy helped them translate ideas into action. Whether navigating incorporation processes, initiating real estate developments, or establishing educational partnerships, the collective experience was marked by purpose, access, and possibility.