www.greatswedishadventure.com

Meter Television are searching for Americans with Swedish ancestry for a reality TV-show. After the major success of Great Swedish Adventure-Allt för Sverige (The Swedish title of the show) season 1 we are now casting for season 2.

The Producers of the Swedish version of American Idol and Minute To Win It are coming to the U.S. to find fun, outgoing Americans with Swedish ancestry to participate in their new television series “Allt för Sverige.”

Brian the Winner season 1: Before I used the hear the stories, now I lived the stories…

Americans will travel to Sweden and participate in an exciting television series. Chosen participants will compete in extreme cultural challenges to discover their rich and fascinating roots while trying to win the grand prize; MEETING THEIR SWEDISH RELATIVES.

This is an extraordinary opportunity to discover a new land and culture and have a chance to win a spectacular prize.

Allt för Sverige will be shot and broadcast in Sweden and potentially other countries as well. This is an incredible “once in a lifetime” opportunity for someone to discover their ancestry and experience their rich and fascinating Swedish cultural heritage.

Apply now at www.greatswedishadventure.com

For the third year in a row SACC-USA is collaborating with George Washington University and their MBA program “Clean Technology and Marketing Strategy: The Swedish Experience.”

In order to deepen their international business experience, all Global MBA candidates at The George Washington University School of Business in Washington, D.C., are required to participate in an international residency project. Each project, which combines class work with hands-on learning, brings together a diverse group of students. The students must apply their skills and experience to assist international organizations with their market entry or expansion into the United States. Their projects are guided and reviewed by highly experiences professors in Entrepreneurship and Marketing at the George Washington School of Business. Previous years both students and participating companies have been very satisfied with the collaboration.

We are now seeking four Swedish companies for this year’s edition.

To qualify the companies need to:

• Be prepared to expand into the U.S. market or already have business in the U.S. but not being well established yet
• Have a good business case ready to launch in a new market
• Have time to work with the students

The course runs between March and May. In mid-May the students will visit Sweden for two weeks. The company will then meet with the students to finish the marketing plans together with them.

This is your opportunity to to get a highly qualified and inexpensive market entry/expansion plan made by Americans. The market entry plan and the project process is quality checked every step of the way.

Please contact SACC-USA for more information or to apply:

Ziba Zareie, Executive Regional Director
ziba@sacc-usa.org
+46 (0)8 400 255 39
+46 (0)73 516 0347

Deadline: January 31^st 2012

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Article originally published on Currents Online.

During 2011, the 19 SACC Chambers across the U.S.,were operated by 350 Directors of the Boards and supported by 60 staff and trainees, all committed to helping Swedish companies enter, establish and export to the U.S. Together they gave every one of our present 2,300 members in the SACC Network access to the knowledge, contacts and experience through organizing conferences, pitch pubs, speaker series, and seminars, as well as using traditional Swedish celebrations as networking events.

During 2011 these dedicated individuals, with an accumulated experience of Swedish-American trade of 4,600 years, put over 150,000 hours serving our members and promoting Swedish-American trade. We are also happy to announce that we have passed the 10,000-limit of subscribers to eCurrents, the SACC-USA newsletter, reporting on transatlantic business news.

In Sweden SACC-USA has been represented at more than 50 seminars, conferences and information meetings for small and midsize Swedish companies and met over 500 new persons from businesses, universities and organizations. Throughout the SACC network of chambers in Sweden and the U.S. over 5,000 attendeesfrom the Swedish-American business community have attended our events, business mixers and seminars. Among them Swedish-American Entrepreneurial Days alone resulted in over 300 business matchmaking meetings between the 450 attendees, during 3 intensive days. A whole year of networking resulted in 245,000 business cards being exchanged across Sweden and the U.S. Our Regional U.S. Chambers cover 30 U.S. states.

The SACC trainee program placed 125 trainees during 2011. That is an impressive 37% increase since 2010. 75 of the trainees were placed at 55 companies within fields varying from software engineering to public affairs. An additional 50 trainees contributed to the important work of SACC’s Regional Chambers.

Throughout the year we have been able to promote Swedish-American trade with the help of our members, partners and sponsors. We are greatly appreciative of your cooperation and dedication and we look forward to working together throughout this year as well.

Read the extended annual review – 2011 In Retrospect >>>

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Article originally published on Currents Online.

2011 was a year of many changes in SACC-USA’s history characterized by a new President, a new Chairman of the Board, and new officers of the Board of Directors, along with two new office locations. Therese Lindé became the new Executive Director of SACC-USA on January 1st, and then at the first board meeting, she was titled as the new President of SACC-USA. Bradley J. Olson was elected Chairman of the Board in September, replacing Urban Lundberg who served his term with honor! Since his election in the later part of 2011, Chairman Olson has put additional focus on strengthening the SACC-USA network and to trying to take advantage of its many existing contacts and resources– something we will continue to do during the coming years. By doing so, we will continue to support both the Regional Chambers and all the members of SACC-USA.

General activities
In Stockholm, we welcomed the opening of a SACC Sweden office on January 1^st with Ziba Zareie as its Executive Regional Director. Having a permanent SACC staff in Sweden has meant a lot for the network, as we are now able to take part in the Swedish business life on a daily basis; promote SACC and the U.S. market; gather knowledge of business trends; and expand the network, while still serving members on both sides of the Atlantic. Throughout Sweden, SACC-USA has been represented at more than 50 seminars, conferences and information meetings for small and mid-size Swedish companies and met over 500 new contacts from businesses, universities, and organizations throughout Sweden.

Our U.S. office relocated to the House of Sweden in Washington DC. The new office space has placed SACC-USA in the midst of the transatlantic spinning wheel; lots of events and seminars are held in the building, and of course, being next door to the Swedish Embassy has really enhanced our collaboration as well as with the rest of “official Sweden,” for which we are grateful. The U.S. Department of Commerce and many other U.S. agencies are also valued partners in the Washington, DC region.

Entrepreneurial Days 2011
The Swedish-American Chambers of Commerce of the USA, The City of Växjö and Telecom City located in Blekinge Kommun, co-hosted Entrepreneurial Days in Växjö and Karlskrona on September 14^th-16^th; the largest business networking event held between Sweden and the U.S. during 2011. The Swedish-American Entrepreneurial Days were held for the 21st time and during the conference, over 300 matchmaking meetings took place. The incubator export challenge invited Swedish start-ups to pitch their ventures and Xbrane was awarded a SACC trade mission to the U.S., coming up this spring.

Business Accelerator Programs
We continued to focus on the clean-tech industry and ran two programs, one with support from the Swedish Energy Agency and one with Västra Götaland Region in partnership with Business Region Göteborg. As part of these programs, we have been running “Access to the U.S. Clean-tech Market” with American experts as featured speakers, which have been very successful by leveraging Swedish export-ready companies’ knowledge and connections in the U.S. marketplace. Both of these programs were completed in 2011, but we hope to continue this work during the coming years as well.

Within the clean-tech sector, we have also continued our partnership with George Washington University (GWU) and their MBA students. GWU offers a special marketing program where the students work with Swedish companies. SACC-USA identifies the clean-tech companies needing help with market expansion to the U.S., and the companies get many great strategies and U.S. knowledge from this program while the students get real life experience. A win-win situation for all! This program will continue during 2012, and a MBA Life Science Program will be added.

Trade Missions
SACC-USA and the regional chambers facilitated 10 trade missions for individual companies and organizations throughout the year by helping them arrange meetings in Sweden or in the U.S. with important people for development of their businesses. The most extensive trade mission was for representatives from City of Växjö and Telecom City who traveled across the United States visiting 20 different cities to promote the Entrepreneurial Days 2011. In addition to the above, we facilitated over 100 business meetings for potential partners across the Atlantic where our 19 chambers where involved.

Trainee Program – increased by 37%
The SACC Trainee Program placed over 100 Swedish interns in the U.S. during 2011 – an increase of 37%! 75 trainees were placed in the U.S. for training at 55 companies within fields varying from software engineering to public affairs. An additional 50 trainees contributed to the important work of SACC’s Regional Chambers. For next year we are for the first time looking into a reversed program, this time sending U.S. trainees to Sweden!

2011 For the Regional SACC Chambers

During 2011, the 19 SACC Regional Chambers were operated by 350 Directors of the Boards and supported by 50 trainees and some regular staff; all committed to helping Swedish companies enter, establish, and export to the U.S. Together, they gave everyone of our 2,300 members in the SACC-USA Network access to knowledge, contacts, and experience through organizing conferences, pitch pubs, speaker series, and seminars, as well as using traditional Swedish celebrations as networking events.

Across the network, the regional SACC Chambers hosted several prestigious events. His Royal Highness Prince Daniel visited SACC Washington DC in late October and participated in a seminar on lobbying, a prime business in the capital city. Being an entrepreneur himself, Prince Daniel was honored with a lifetime SACC-USA membership and is welcome back at any time. SACC Washington DC also successfully served as a platform for their corporate members’ lobbying events with top level politicians widely present.

Meanwhile, on the West Coast, the Eliason Merit Award, organized by SACC Greater Los Angeles, attracted over 250 attendees, was given to the two-time Academy Award-winning Sound Supervisor Per Hallberg of Soundelux, Kerstin Florian, entrepreneur and owner of an exclusive spa-line, and STOPP-LA for their revolutionizing campaign “No Right Brain Left Behind.” The 2011 SACC Achievement Awards organized by SACC San Francisco, featured former Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm as the key note speaker and attracted over 160 people. The proud winners were Retail Solutions, Inc., Dr. Britt-Marie Ljung and The Scandinavian School of San Francisco.

The SACC New England chamber co-hosted the venture capital congress Boston Clean-Tech Venture Days in Boston in early November, bringing clean-tech ventures and strategic U.S. partners together across the Atlantic. SACC Arizona and SACC Colorado celebrated 15 and 20 years respectively, by hosting grand celebration dinners.

Throughout the year, we have been able to promote Swedish-American trade with the help of our members, partners and sponsors. We are greatly appreciative of your collaboration and dedication and we look forward to working together throughout this year as well.

A Glance at 2012

SACC-USA will continue to work to bring the U.S. closer to Sweden through close cooperation within the network, and with our partners. This is essential to promoting Swedish-American trade and assisting our members in transatlantic business and networking.

The coming year SACC-USA invites you to attend: (more information to come)

• SACC Summit 2012, Washington D.C. date to be set for early May (SACC Board Members only).
• SEEAC – Sustainable Energy Environment Accessibility Construction, co-organized with Enterprise Europe Network (EEN), Vasteras May 23-24.
• Almedalen SACC-USA hosts a seminar during the very acknowledged politician week in Gotland, first week of July.
• George Washington University: looking for companies who need support with market entry strategies for the U.S. market as well as company visits during their stay in Sweden, May 13-26.
• The Bridge Conference in Karlstad, organized by Swedish Council of America, September 12-15.
• Seminars on “How to expand to the U.S market” – continuously in Sweden

Furthermore, nationwide Industry Groups have and will be formed within CleanTech, Life Science and ICT. These interregional committees will serve our members across the U.S. and Sweden with information and opportunities in these industries. Read about the groups in the SpecialEditions on eCurrents during the year and on our website sacc-usa.org/saccexportguide.

Regional SACC Chambers

The regional chambers will continue to host events, organize trade missions and assist their members with knowledge, networking, and generally hard work. Throughout the year, we will for example host Monthly Speaker Series with SACC Georgia, Monthly Pitch-pubs for start-ups with SACC New England, and Monthly Business Mixers with SACC-San Diego. Please follow the updates in the Regional Chamber schedule on “Whats going on” in the monthly issue of eCurrents. Here are a few examples.

• April: the BioMass Expo in Colorado & Scandinavian Month, co-hosted by SACC Philadelphia.
• June: SACC Greater Los Angeles will be coordinating a gaming event together with Nordic Games, the Swedish Embassy and the Swedish Computer Gaming Industry in connection with the E3 Convention in L.A.
• October: SACC Achievement Award, SACC San Francisco.
• November: Eliason Merit Award at SACC Greater Los Angeles, Boston CleanTech Venture Days, at SACC New England.

In 2012 we will also celebrate the 100th year anniversary of the birth of Raoul Wallenberg, the noted Swedish businessman, heroic diplomat, and humanitarian who rescued thousands of Jews during WW II, , and is one of only seven honorary citizens of the United States awarded to this day. We will also commemorate the 100-year anniversary of the death of the great Swedish writer, August Strindberg. The Swedish Embassy has constructed a schedule around the anniversaries and their theme “Innovation and Education. Please read Ambassador Jonas Hafström’s comments on these issues in his New Year’s greeting to the Swedish American Chambers of Commerce of the USA published in eCurrents. And do not miss our exclusive interview with the new U.S. Ambassador to Stockholm, Mark Brzezinski, on his plans for SweAm Trade and our cooperation.

We thank our members and partners for a wonderful 2011 and we are now ready for 2012!

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Article originally published on Currents Online.

SACC-USA would like to thank all the companies hosting trainees through the SACC Trainee Program during 2011. Altogether, 75 trainees were placed in the U.S. for training at 55 companies within fields varying from software engineering to public affairs. An additional 50 trainees contributed to the important work of SACC’s Regional U.S. Chambers. The SACC Trainee Program grew by over 30% this year, all thanks to you.

See the list of host companies, what they got help with and from whom!

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Article originally published on Currents Online.

During 2011 we have had another year of great activities throughout the United States. We are proud of the work we have been doing in Washington, DC through the 2011 promotional theme “Fabric of Life” in which we examined various aspects of modern life. More than 20,000 visitors took part in our conferences, exhibitions and seminars in House of Sweden.

However, our ambition is to reach out to as many parts of the country as possible. We have also organized events and visits in numerous other cities such as San Francisco, Seattle, Minneapolis, New York,Chicago, New Orleans, Cleveland, Kansas City, Raleigh, Los Angeles and San Diego.

Together with our Honorary Consuls and the Swedish American Chamber of Commerce, we are in a good position to contribute to the goal of Sweden’s Minister Trade to doubling Sweden’s exports in five years. The Chamber is doing a great job in promoting trade and investments to Swedenas well.

Sweden’s trade figures are encouraging. Last year they were up 31 percent, and this year we can also report positive figures. I encourage the Chamber to continue the close cooperation with the Embassy – and with the whole Swedish promotional “family” – including the Swedish Trade Council, InvestSweden, Growth Analysis and Visit Sweden. During her last visit to the U.S., the Trade Minister expressed how much she appreciates our joint efforts.

Looking ahead to 2012, we will focus on “Innovation and Education” as the program theme for House of Sweden. We will also promote environmental technology within the Swedish-American Green Alliance network.

In addition, the 100 birthday of Raoul Wallenberg, one of the great heroes of our time, will be highlighted and the legacy of Sweden’s famous writer, August Strindberg, will be commemorated.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank the SACC-network for everything you do to promote Sweden and Swedish interests all over the United States. I look forward to a continued close collaboration.

Ambassador Jonas Hafström
Embassy of Sweden in Washington, D.C.

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Article originally published on Currents Online.

Mark Francis Brzezinski was chosen and confirmed as the new U.S. Ambassador to Sweden by President Obama on October 18, 2011. Two months after the announcement Swedish-American Chambers of Commerce had the opportunity to address his plans for the future and his thoughts on the trade relations between the U.S. and Sweden.

1. How would you describe your plans to engage in U.S.-Swedish trade and investment?

First, I would like to start by saying that I am very happy to be here in Sweden and am honored to serve as the U.S. Ambassador to this beautiful country. Knowing that our relation in general – and our trade and investment relations in particular – are strong, I look forward to further expanding and deepening the relations in this area. I plan to personally meet with companies both in Sweden and the United States, so that I can learn first-hand about opportunities for bilateral partnerships – for U.S. companies to find an export market in Sweden and for Swedish companies planning investments in the United States. I also plan to meet and interact with organizations such as the Swedish American Chambers of Commerce to build on our common goals of increasing trade and investment between countries.

2. Michael Wood orchestrated One Big Thing and Mathew Barzun developed this into SAGA cooperation. Will you carry on the alternative energy work?

My predecessors were indeed both very successful in developing the great potential for U.S.-Swedish partnerships in the areas of renewable energy, cleantech, and sustainability. Being a strong supporter of nature and the environment I will indeed continue these efforts. The One big Thing highlighted the mutual benefit that can come from connecting innovative cleantech companies in Sweden and the United States. SAGA expanded our partnership efforts to also include scientific research, and sharing of best practices on sustainability policies – particularly between Swedish and American cities. So many great things have already come out of cooperation in this area that we must not only continue it, but deepen it. I recenetly hosted U.S. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu in Stockholm. We send him a report every month on the interesting things happening in U.S.-Sweden sustainability collaboration that we publish on the SAGA web platform. He noted that SAGA is a model for the kind of practical, results-oriented, international cooperation the United States is seeking under President Obama to increase energy security, and seize the commercial and job-creation opportunities of the coming low-carbon economy.

Are there any specific areas of policy where you would like the U.S. government to work more closely with Sweden and vice versa?

Well, I have noted that we have a pretty substantial trade deficit with Sweden, so I would like to work both with Sweden, and American companies, to see what we can do to achieve a bit more balance in our trade. I think that there is also a lot that Sweden and the United States could do together in our mutual interest to advocate for common global standards for clean technology to help our companies export, and to accelerate the provision of clean technologies to developing countries so that they can grow their economics in a more economical and environmentally efficient way. Of course, the United States and Sweden should work together on any policy issues that facilitates business between our two countries and to help build out partnerships in trade around the world.

3. What do you believe are the three most important measures that the U.S. should undertake in order to stay in line with the National Export initiative? How will you contribute to this work?

To meet the President´s NEI goal of doubling exports by the end of 2014, we need to reach out to the small and medium sized companies to assist them in becoming export ready, and to assist them in opening new markets for U.S. goods worldwide, while at the same time maintaining contacts with our already established markets. During my tenure as Ambassador to Sweden I plan to take an active part in meeting with both American and Swedish companies to learn about their experiences and views on trade between our two countries, to learn about trade and investment opportunities and also about barriers to trade. I will work closely with the Embassy´s Commercial Section and organizations such as the Swedish American Chambers of Commerce in these endeavors.

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Article originally published on Currents Online.

Also on Currents

What is the NEI? >>>

Read more about Ambassador Brzezinski >>>

Expand Your Biotech Business to Virginia

Greater Richmond Partnership, the Swedish-American Chambers of Commerce and SwedenBio invite you to a seminar about how to make it in the U.S. – in the Biotech business.

Further information (pdf)

Expand Your Biotech Business to Virginia

Greater Richmond Partnership, the Swedish-American Chambers of Commerce and SwedenBio invite you to a seminar about how to make it in the U.S. – in the Biotech business.

Further information (pdf)

For decades Charlotte, NC was known as a banking town and then as a financial center. Despite the financial crisis it still is – and a lot more as well. Charlotte has gone from having one core industry to seven. Developing into an energy hub is now one of the more successful areas.

To read the article CLICK HERE