As a lead up to the first ever SACC Summit, Currents is running an interview series to shine light on each of the regional chambers by profiling a few of the dozens of amazing volunteers that donate their time to SACC every year. Each of the interviewees is one of the experienced and hard working people that make our network tick, but still only represents a small fraction of the talent that SACC has at its disposal. If you are interested in joining your local SACC chamber, check out their website, reach out to a board member, and get involved.
Name: Benedikt Ibing 
Chamber: SACC-Georgia
Benedikt Ibing was working in the telecom and finance industries inAtlantawhen his company asked him to promote their services inSweden. In order to do so, he collaborated closely with SACC-Georgia and was subsequently asked to join the board of directors. He is currently serving as Vice-Chairman.
Benedikt is actually German, not Swedish, but views his involvement with SACC as a way to exercise his desire to give back to the business community as a whole, and promote international relations and trade. He sees the cultural outreach and networking aspects of SACC as just as important, if not more so, than trade promotion emphasizing modern technology and how it has changed chambers of commerce’s roles over the years: “There are no barges anymore. The access to trade and business knowledge is much easier which makes the cultural and networking aspects of a chamber that much more vital.”
A few of the aspects that make SACC Georgia stick out are its high profile speaker series, educational outreach, and the big cultural events they host each year including a Midsummer celebration, Lucia Gala and Crawfish party. Benedikt says he is looking forward to SACC Summit because it will give the regional chambers a great forum to share their knowledge and collaborate on challenges facing the chambers. In 2012 Benedikt hopes to see SACC Georgia continue to book high profile speaking guests and increase its already strong networking opportunities.
For more information on SACC-Georgia:
www.sacc-georgia.org
For more information on SACC-USA
www.sacc-usa.org
SACC Summit 2012: a reunion of the SACC network founded in 1988.
SACC Summit is the first annual gathering of all the Swedish-American Chambers of Commerce in theUnited Statessince the network’s founding in 1988. The program includes a conference during that day addressing everything from SACC’s role in Swedish-American trade promotion, to methods of serving and empowering members, to daily chamber operational efficiency. In the evening, H.E. Ambassador of Sweden Jonas Hafström has invited SACC and the Swedish consuls for a barbeque. Day two consists of a luncheon on Capitol Hill hosted by SACC-USA in partnership with the Swedish Congressional Caucus. SACC Summit will provide unparalleled opportunities for the SACC regional chambers to learn from and network with each other while solidifying SACC as the place where Swedish-American business comes to meet and develop transatlantic trade.
