During this year’s annual elective board meeting, held in Växjö in Sweden, a new board of directors was chosen to steer the SACC-USA network in the coming years.
Urban Lundberg has done a fantastic job as the Chairman of SACC-USA during two very intense years, but now when his term has come to an end, we are very happy to welcome Bradley J. Olson as the new Chairman. Mr. Olson has been serving as the Chairman of SACC-DC the last two years and had been on the SACC-USA’s board for many years as well. Matias Bonnier, Chairman of SACC-Ohio, is now the Chair-Elect and Signhild Arnegård Hansen got the Vice Chair. Please meet the new top trio!
Bradley J. Olson
Matias Bonnier
Signhild Arnegård Hansen
Also a warm welcome to new board members; Per Carlsson, aBioNova AB in Gothenburg, Erik Hånell, Stena Bulk in Texas, Rasmus Goksör, Duke University in Boston and Lydia La Ferla, La Ferla Associates in Washington DC.
Meet Chairman Bradley J. Olson
What is your profession?
- I work as a patent attorney in the Washington, DC offices of the law firm Dickstein Shapiro LLP in its Intellectual Property Group. My practice typically consists of advising clients both in the United States and in European countries on patentability, infringement, and patent validity issues, including anti‐counterfeiting enforcement and industrial designs, with an emphasis in the biomedical and medical device fields. I often prepare and negotiate complex intellectual property rights transfer agreements, including patent litigation settlements, patent licenses, and computer software and hardware agreements for my corporate clients. As part of my practice, I have been involved in all aspects of patent and trademark litigation in the United States as well as in several European countries in conjunction with foreign counsel.
How come you joined SACC-USA?
- I am a third generation Swedish-American, as both sets of grandparents emigrated from Sweden to Connecticut after entering the United States in the early 1900’s. Both of my parents were born in the U.S., as were my younger brother and I. As a child, I had occasions to listen to my grandparents speaking Swedish to one another, sometimes in seemingly opinionated tones, but I unfortunately was not exposed to nearly enough Swedish to become fluent. Nonetheless, as a family, we celebrated traditional holidays in a semi-Swedish fashion with sill, skinka, glögg and the små grodorna all making guest appearances on many occasions. Many fond childhood memories were also had from activities held at a private Swedish Social Club in Connecticut, where over the years, Swedish descendant families would gather for various social events that coincided with traditional Swedish holidays and festivals.
My wife “Marti” and I moved to Washington, DC in 1994 where I began work as a patent attorney. Around that time, I happened upon someone who mentioned that there was a Swedish-American Chamber of Commerce in Washington, DC (SACC-DC) and that business networking and socializing opportunities in a Swedish flavor could be found within that organization. I joined SACC-DC in 1995, became an active member, ran its program committee, and eventually became its president in the early-mid 2000’s. After learning from so many highly-achieved individuals who were prior chairmen of SACC-DC, the board eventually asked me to consider being its next chair. I have held that position since 2010. Over the past 11 years, I have also been an activate participant in the SACC-USA Entrepreneurial (E-Days) events held throughout Sweden, including chairing the domestic E-Days event held in Washington, DC in 2005. I attended SACC-USA meetings as a SACC-DC chamber representative throughout the early-mid 2000’s before being selected as a Secretary of the SACC-USA in 2009. I stayed in that position until receiving the honor of being chosen as the current chairperson of SACC-USA at the annual meeting held in Växjö prior to this year’s E-Days.
What do you think of the future of SACC-USA?
- As someone who has been an active in my regional SACC-DC chamber for going on two decades, as well as participating for several years at the SACC-USA level, I am optimistic that even greater achievements are ahead for our organization despite the economic correction of the past several years. I have my work cut out for me as I saw firsthand the accomplishments of prior chairman Urban Lundberg, who did so much to protect our chamber network through difficult economic times. I am also grateful for the support and character of Matias Bonnier, our chairman-elect, with whom I intend to work closely to harmonize our efforts and permit a smooth transition after my term concludes.
On the practical side, SACC-USA is fortunate to have someone with the skills of Therese Linde as their new president, as she follows on the many accomplishments of prior president Gunilla Girardo. SACC-USA is also fortunate to have a number of very capable individuals, such as Ziba Zareie, working at the new SACC-Sweden office in Stockholm. Closer to home, SACC-USA has the nuanced skills of Cecelia Kullman for securing the J1 Visas for Swedish young professionals who seek trainee positions in U.S. corporations. All of the aforementioned individuals, and the interns who support them, have shown time and time again what can be achieved by a national organization that operates almost exclusively on a voluntary basis and with a shared vision.
One of my goals is to expand that vision by bringing our SACC-USA network into closer alignment, unifying our common practices where appropriate, and using the synergy of our network for the advancement of US and Swedish trade. Just as a chain is as only strong as its weakest link, so too are the regional chambers within our SACC-USA network. I intend to work with the regional chambers and provide them with opportunities to permit them to advance to stronger and more balanced positions. I will also try to engage considerably more U.S.-based corporations and get them to join our chamber network to help grow our regional chambers. SACC-USA cannot continue to rely solely on its core businesses based in Sweden, whose generosity and support have led to the success and sound financial position that we enjoy today. The time to set our reach well beyond our immediate grasp is again upon us.
What you did not know about the Chairman…
- On weekends in decent weather, my wife and I like to take our boat out on the Chesapeake Bay and explore various harbors and ports of call or whatever suits us at the time. Also, when I was in university, I used to throw the hammer and qualified and competed in the U.S. Olympic trials.
Meet Chairman-Elect Matias Bonnier
What is your profession?
- I am the Chairman of the Karl-Adam Bonnier Foundation in Stockholm. The Foundation has the objective to promote scientific education and research in business administration and business law. Additionally, I am also the Chairman of the Ohio chapter of the Swedish American Chamber of Commerce (SACC-Ohio). Furthermore, I manage the forestry on the family farm in Sweden as well as being a nationally licensed Steward with the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA).
How come you joined SACC-USA?
- I am originally born in the US by Swedish parents who returned to Sweden when I was an infant. I grew up in and outside of Stockholm but in 1976 I returned to the US to attend the Gunnery, a boarding and day prep school in Connecticut. I earned my BSME from Syracuse University in 1985 and an MBA from the Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve University in 1993. Previously I have been working for companies such as General Electric, AT&T and Lucent Technologies, as well as an independent management consultant and owned and raced my auto racing team.
My first introduction to the Swedish American Chamber of Commerce came in the mid 90’s when Michael Miller, the Swedish Consul in Cleveland, approached me with the thought of establishing an Ohio chapter of SACC. However, due to changes in the organization at the time, those plans were shelved until Christian Bernadotte resurrected them a few years later and included me in their exploratory committee. I have been on the SACC-Ohio board since its inception, became its Chairman in 2010. Additionally, and I have been representing SACC-Ohio on the SACC-USA board since 2009.
What do you think of the future of SACC-USA?
- SACC’s greatest strength is its volunteers and network. My goal is to leverage that to both support the individual chapters as well as to educate potential customers from both the public and private sectors. SACC is and can be of a great asset to both businesses and government on both sides of the Atlantic. With information sharing between the different chapters, customers and SACC-USA, the organization as a whole will become more robust financially as well as becoming the “Go-To” organization for trade between Sweden and the USA.
What you did not know about the Chairman-Elect…
- I cannot sing or dance; I have simply has no sense of rhythm.
Meet Vice Chairman Signhild Arnegård Hansen
What is your profession?
- Mrs Arnegård Hansen is a renowned and multiply honoured professional with great experience in board work. She is currently the Chairman of Svenska LantChips AB, the Utah Chips Corporation and numerous boards within business and society development in Sweden, Europe and the U.S. Among them Board Member of the Executive Board, TABD (TransAtlantic Business Dialogue), Swedish Trade Council, ESBRI – Entrepreneurship and Small Business Research Institute and Swedish-American Chamber of Commerce, New York.
How come you joined SACC-USA?
- I am born and raised in Stockholm, have a degree in HR from the University of Stockholm, and worked for several years as an elementary school teacher. In spite of her love for teaching she carried on to pursue a carrier as Human Relations Manager within an insurance company. I started the first of her own companies in the late eighties, and due to her extensive entrepreneurial experience, she has been involved in different companies since then.
One year ago, my family and I moved to Salt Lake City, Utah, in order to expand the family business in the U.S. and for that reason me and my husband have decided to engage in the SACC-Utah and the SACC-USA network.
What do you think of the future of SACC-USA?
- The question we are all concerned with presently is how to avoid a breakdown of the Western economy. One pillar to protect and keep is the globalization process, which has proven so successful in bringing millions of people around the world out of utter poverty. The SACC-USA Network promotes international cooperation, trade and understanding on the U.S.-Swedish scale. We need to keep this up, and I want to be a part of this work. It might not be a global network, but it is still a traditional cornerstone for some of the values I cherish.
What you did not know about the Vice Chairman…
- I am the mother of 6 children. This means spending a lot of time following up on school work for the younger children and being the typical “taxi-mom”.
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