WORDS FROM OUR EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
As an export oriented country, Sweden relies on good relations with the rest of the world. There is no better way to promote good international business relations than through the exchange of talent and knowledge across borders. Over the past ten years, SACC-USA has placed more than 700 Swedes in companies in the U.S. for practical training in their professional fields. Now, we are happy to announce that we are working on a talent mobility project aimed in the other direction; to help Swedish companies find technology talent in the U.S. If your company would like to participate in this tech talent mobility project, please contact us.
A sign of Sweden´s position as innovative and high-tech country is Amazon Web Services' recent announcement that it would build three data centers in Sweden in 2018. Sweden's Innovation and Enterprise Minister,
Mikael Damberg
noted that Amazon's decision to establish a new infrastructure region in Sweden is an important recognition of Sweden's competitiveness and leading position in the global digital shift.
We also want to congratulate Hans Vestberg, former President and CEO of Ericsson for his recent appointment at Verizon. As Executive Vice President and President of Network and Technology Vestberg will be responsible for further developing the architecture for Verizon's fiber-centric networks. In 2014, Vestberg was ranked number ten on Global Telecoms Business' list of the 100 most powerful people in the telecoms industry. Vestberg will bring extensive experience with 5G networks to Verizon and is expected to play a leading role in pushing technological developments in an increasingly competitive market.
It is extremely sad to write these words when the news of a deadly incident in Stockholm has just reached us. Our thoughts are with the victims and their families.
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EXECUTIVE FORUM
We are very proud to announce that Jonas Prising, Chairman
and CEO of ManpowerGroup will be a
keynote speaker at Executive Forum 2017. At ManpowerGroup he leads all aspects of the group's
$20 billion business across 80 countries and territories. A recognized expert on the labor market and world of work trends, Prising regularly speaks at conferences and summits around the world. He actively engages in the World Economic Forum annual and regional meetings and frequently provides commentary on employment trends for national and global media.
Welcome to Washington and Executive Forum 2017 Jonas!
Please save the date, June 1, 2017!
Click
here
for more information,
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WILBUR ROSS - NEW COMMERCE SECRETARY
Former democrat and billionaire investor
Wilbur Ross, the former Democrat and billionaire investor who had been advising Trump on economic policy and rewriting the tax code is expected to play a key role in developing Trump's new trade agenda. In comparison to some of President Trump's other cabinet picks, Mr. Ross' confirmation was relatively smooth and easy. The Senate confirmed Mr. Ross with a vote of 72 to 27 o
n February 27th. His acceptability to Democrats was boosted by the fact that he divested a significant portion of his holdings to avoid potential conflicts of interest as the head of the commerce department. Additionally, Mr. Ross is viewed as having a role in moderating some of Trump's views on trade. In his confirmation hearing he expressed generally pro-trade views saying, "I am pro-trade, but pro-sensible trade."
From his time as a private equity investor Mr. Ross has extensive experience taking advantage of multinational trade deals. Mr. Ross' appointment signals Trump's fulfillment of his promise to fill his cabinet with proven deal makers. Mr. Ross has signaled his commitment to renegotiating NAFTA as his first priority and vows to be aggressive in securing fair deals.
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ON SAS' RECENT EXPANSION AND MOVING TO THE US AS SCANDINAVIAN MANAGER
Max Knagge, General Manager for SAS Americas
eCurrents had the opportunity to interview Max Knagge, General Manager for SAS Americas at the SAS in DC event at the House of Sweden on March 29th. Max has been with SAS for 13 years and moved to the U.S. with his family in January 2015. In the interview, Max spoke about SAS' recent investments in the U.S. and shared personal insight about moving here as a Scandinavian manager.
The U.S. market has never been more important for SAS. Last year, SAS added four new routes from the U.S. to Scandinavia and increased its capacity from the U.S. by 25%. In conjunction with the increase in capacity the company invested in new aircraft and brand new cabins. Altogether, this expansion represents the biggest
investment in the airline's 70-year history.
eCurrent´s journalist Blake Morgan together with Max Knagge
Recently, SAS has observed two encouraging trends in travel between the U.S. and Scandinavia. On the product side, SAS is seeing increasing demand for the premium economy class, SAS Plus. SAS was one of the first airlines to have a premium economy cabin and in the past several years an increasing number of other airlines have been implement similar options. The introduction of premium economy options by other players has boosted market awareness. Now SAS is seeing demand for SAS Plus, which has comparatively more premium features, such as access to SAS lounges and fast track, than other airlines' premium economy cabins, grow faster than demand for SAS Go, the company's regular economy cabin. The other trend that SAS has observed is increasing American interest in traveling to Scandinavian for leisure. An growing number of Americans are traveling to Scandinavia for vacation to experience both the local culture and visit natural attractions. SAS intends to increase its focus on leisure travel from the U.S. as an avenue of growth for the future.
Borrowing from his own experience, Max has important insight to share about the differences in working as a manager in Sweden versus in the U.S. First of all, the scale of Swedish companies in relation to the market is often significantly different. In the U.S. SAS is a small player in a huge market while the opposite is true of the company in its home market. Max says that even though SAS has 11 daily departures from the U.S. and is the largest carrier from the U.S. to their home market, the company is still a pretty small airline in American terms. The difference of relative scale means that awareness of SAS and similar Swedish companies is naturally much lower in U.S. than in Sweden. Max enjoys the starting point of being a challenger rather than a dominant player in the U.S. and believes that starting from a less visible position requires formulating strategies and ways to get attention and demonstrate your values. Along those lines, SAS is currently working on innovative technical solutions to make life easier for their frequent travelers. Throughout its history, the company has achieved a lot of firsts, including being the first airline to have female pilots and the first to have inflight entertainment systems. Through investment in upcoming technologies SAS hopes to continue that trend going forward.
In terms of advice for Scandinavian managers coming to the U.S., Max would like to share two perspectives. On the private side, his own experience has taught him that especially if you come to the U.S. with your family it is important to invest time in your private life. Naturally it is a big transition to move abroad and Max believes that an important component of his success here is that he has been fortune to have the both the private and business dimensions of his life in the U.S. work. On the business side, Max explains that he has benefited by being part of networks like the Swedish-American Chambers of Commerce. He believes that it can be extremely helpful to find other Scandinavian companies that are in a similar position or that know the market and can offer insights from their experiences. "Markets and market characteristics are different in every region in the world and networking within the Scandinavian community in the U.S. lets you learn from companies that have been through the same journey as you from a business perspective." Lastly, Max says that in moving to the U.S. it is important to embrace the differences. "Don't move here and expect to live and work like you did in Sweden. Embrace the differences and enjoy the ride because it is exciting!"
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Deficits are a flawed guide to unfair trade
Free trade has recently become a contentious topic in the U.S. Newly empowered voices have raised increasing concern about the fairness of current trade conditions. Some have depicted the U.S. as loosing out when it comes to trade and point to the fact that the U.S. routinely runs large trade deficits as evidence of that. However, trade balances are a highly flawed measure of trade behavior. The U.S. has a trade deficit because Americans consume more than they produce.
In essence, the U.S. sells assets such as stocks and bonds to finance consumption and capital spending. Essentially, in order for the U.S. to quickly reduce its trade deficit, Americans would have to consume less and save more of their own money.
Persistent trade deficits, like the U.S. has run for the last 42 years reflect structural factors, primarily a combination of foreign and domestic saving, consumption, and investment behavior. In the case of the U.S., one of the most important structural factors driving the trade deficit is that the global demand for U.S. securities increases both capital inflows and the value of the dollar. This so-called safe-haven demand is do to the relative stability and perceived relatively low-risk associated with U.S. economic policies. Thus, the fact that the U.S. has been able to run consistent trade deficits while so many international investors have continued to bet on the U.S. economy can
actually be seen as a sign of American economic hegemony.
Additionally, there is little evidence to support the repeated refrain that trade deficits have drained manufacturing jobs away from the U.S. In reality the relative decline of manufacturing in the U.S. economy is part of a global shift in the relative importance of manufacturing. In fact, the decline of the manufacturing sector as a job provider in the U.S. since the 1980s has been primarily driven improved efficiency due to atomization. While some jobs have moved abroad, again primarily driven by global structural factors, there is no indication that U.S. trade deficits per se have been significant in contributing to this phenomenon. Germany provides a good counter example to the argument that manufacturing job loss could be avoided if the U.S. were to run a trade surplus instead of a trade deficit. Even Germany, which is known for its industrial exports and the consistently large trade surpluses that it has run since the mid 1990s has experienced a relative decline in manufacturing employment. For example, according to Federal Reserve Economic Data the manufacturing sector accounted for 28.1% of German employment in 1993, whereas by 2012 that number had shrunk to 19.8%.
By Blake Morgan
Read more about free trade and trade deficits
here
.
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DOING BUSINESS UNDER THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION
Opportunities for Swedish Companies
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Sweden takes the top spot
This March an annual survey of the best countries in the world was published by U.S. News & World Report in cooperation with Y&R's BAV Consulting and the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. The rankings were based on a range of characteristics and the results were broken down into several important categories including the most powerful country, best country to invest in, and the best country for women, children, and retirees. While Switzerland took the top overall spot, Sweden was ranked as the best country for both women and children. In both categories Sweden did well do to its high scores in
its commitment to human rights, gender equality, income equality, public education and health
,
safety, and overall progressive attitude.
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FEDS RAISE RATES
The Fed announces third rate hike since the beginning of the recession
On March 15th, the Federal Reserve announced its decision to boots interest rates for the third time since the beginning of the financial crisis. This time the benchmark rate was raised to range of between 0.75 and 1 percent. The rate hike was the second in three months and underlined confidence about economic growth and inflation. In the immediate wake of the announcement Wall Street's main indexes edged up and the U.S. dollar continued its slide. Recent U.S. economic data indicates a continued economic improvement including manufacturing output rising in February for the sixth month straight and indications of an improvement in consumer confidence in March.
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According to a major new study conducted by Hostelworld about sociability around the globe, Gothenburg, Sweden is the most sociable city in the world. The hostel booking site's "
Sociable Cities" study is the first comparative analysis of the social life in various world cities and local residents' views on global travel and tourists.
The s
tudy ranked cities based on measures of "sociability" across ten distinct categories including the frequency with which people socialize, openness, and the "propensity to party". Overall the social behavior and attitudes of 12,188 residents from 39 major cities in 28 countries were analyzed. In contradiction of traditional Swedish stereotypes, which portray Swedes as reserved and difficult to engage with, the results of the study ranked Sweden's Gothenburg and
Stockholm ahead of Chicago and Boston as the two most sociable cities in the world.
Read the full article
here.
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Producer and SACC-LA President Gudrun Giddings
Film and TV
producer Gudrun Giddings has been an active member of the Swedish community in Southern California for many years. In 2010, she became a SACC-LA board member and then in 2012, took on the role of President and Chair. Since then, she has worked passionately to develop and grow SACC-LA. Gudrun is extremely passionate about Sweden and is committed to promoting Swedish-American business relations. She believes that
right now is an exciting time with Sweden doing well in so many fields. In her opinion, increasing global connectivity is enabling Swedish talent to make itself more well known in the U.S.
One of Gudrun's current initiatives at SACC-LA is to build on the progress that the chamber has had with its young professional group. Gudrun would like to see more young professional events this year that cater more directly towards SACC-LA's younger members. According to Gudrun, SACC-LA has excelled at utilizing its proximity to the center of the entertainment industry to raise the profile of their events. Young professional events are no exception and entertainment-related events are exceedingly popular with this group.
An excellent example of one SACC-LA's high-profile events is their annual Eliason Merit Award Show. The winner for 2016, international fashion designer Anine Bing was honored at the most recent Award Show on March 22nd. The 2016 award was the 29th annual award that SACC-LA has given out. Since the 2016 Award Show was delayed until this March due to construction on the venue, SACC-LA will double up this year and hold the 2017 Eliason Merit Award Show in the late fall. Other exciting news from SACC-LA is that their member, IKEA Burbank launched the largest IKEA location in USA this past February. The new store is 456,000 Square feet and designed to meet increased demand for affordable Swedish design in the LA area.
With a large Swedish community in the LA, Gudrun believes that SACC-LA has a lot of potential. Southern California has the most Swedes and Scandinavian anywhere is the U.S. Gudrun's favorite
thing about living in LA is getting to meet so many creative people on a daily basis and she believes
that the creative environment as well as the weather is a large draw for Swedes. She is very proud of Sweden and enjoys the challenge of seeking to find ways to grow SACC-LA.
Cecilia Rimér Sangren together with her husband, Academy Award
winner Cinematographer Linus Sandgren and EMA-recipient Anine Bing at SACC-LA's Eliason Merit Award.
Photo Credit: Helena Gytare
Learn more about SACC-LA
here
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PROMOTING SWEDEN IN STYLE
SACC-DC's Swedish Heritage Night
On 6 March, the Verizon Center in Washington, DC turned yellow and blue for the second annual Swedish Heritage Night as the Capitals faced off against the Dallas Stars. SACC-DC member, the Washington Capitals organized a fantastic event in cooperation with the Swedish-American Chamber of Commerce D.C. (SACC-DC) and the Swedish Embassy in Washington. Swedish Heritage Night provided the perfect opportunity for Swedes and lovers of Swedish culture to gather, wear Swedish colors and Viking hats, and participate in exciting Swedish-themed activities. Two teams competed to be the first to assemble an IKEA bookshelf, an event that was shown on the jumbotron during a break in the game. SACC-DC also organized face painting and a friendly match of broomball on the rink following the game. In addition, Swedish organizations, SACC-DC, the Swedish Embassy, and Drott Lodge had tables set up around the arena so that hockey fans could learn more of Swedish culture and cultural events in the National Capital Area.
The Speaker of the Swedish Parliament, Urban Ahlin, and the Swedish Ambassador to the United States, Björn Lyrvall were in attendance.
Mr. Lyrvall who was interviewed on the jumbotron before the game discussed his experiences as Ambassador and his brief time as a hockey goal keeper!
After the game, SACC-DC hosted a question-and-answer session with the three Swedish Caps
players. One fan asked the players how they handled homesickness while being in America and what things them stay connected Sweden. André Burakovsky explained that he uses
Face
Time
to stay in touch with friends, while 
Nicklas Bäckström said that he relies on his fiancée's Swedish cooking skills. When asked if they still worked with their former Swedish youth teams, Bäckström told his audience that he has worked with the NHL to donate equipment to his hometown team.
Swedish Heritage Night was a huge success. With exciting activities, tables with information on Sweden, and guests such as the Ambassador and Speaker of the Swedish Parliament, the event provided hockey fans with the opportunity to experience an NHL game with an exciting Swedish twist. SACC-DC is currently looking
for-
ward to the next opportunity to celebrate Swedish
culture
in America's capital.
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SACC-USA's is excited to welcome our new corporate member, Svenska LantChips.
Find out more about Svenska LantChips
here.
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TRAINEE PROGRAM & SCHOLARSHIPS
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Interning in the US through the SACC network
This month, eCurrents spoke to two recent SACC interns. Helena Nisser was a finance trainee at SACC-USA from June 2016 to January 2017 and Johanna Ljunglöf was the Executive Assistant at SACC-Chicago from August 2016 to January 2017. Both Helena and Johanna were very enthusiastic about their time in the U.S.
Helena explained that her favorite part of her experience was the opportunity to take initiative in a unique business environment. According to her, working in a small organization with an extended external network like SACC comes with the double benefit of being able to try new things and challenge yourself in a small team environment while also having access to the overview of a large business network. While at SACC-USA Helena worked with finance for the first two months and then moved on to assist with the Trainee Program. She was responsible for finding sponsors for the program and loved the challenge of developing the program's potential.
For Johanna, her favorite part of interning in the U.S. was the opportunity to arrange events and meet interesting new people. One of the things she valued most about being at SACC was that it gave her access to the Swedish professional expat community, which she found very inspiring. She said that she now has many contacts in the U.S. and stays in touch with people from the SACC network. Coming from university in Sweden, she thought it was fun to do something practical while gaining confidence and knowledge about how businesses work.
Both Helena and Johanna said that they learned a lot about themselves while at SACC. According to them, working in the U.S. taught them a lot about their preferences and the way they were used to working with others while in Sweden. Altogether they valued their time in the U.S. as a personal, cultural, and professional learning experience.
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AVAILABLE POSITIONS
The application for summer and fall internships is now open
Apply now for the opportunity to join SACC's team in June 2017!
Below you find a link with a list of currently available internship and trainee positions available in the U.S. through the SACC-USA Trainee Program.
Read more about the available positions here.
If you have questions please feel free to contact
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SWEDISH TALENT FOR U.S. COMPANIES
The SACC-USA Trainee Program offers American companies the opportunity to host interns and trainees from Sweden on a J-1 visa. Interns offer support to your company in their area of study for up to 12 months, and Trainees provide support and expertise in their occupational field for up to 18 months. A highly motivated, bilingual, and well-educated Swedish exchange visitor will contribute enthusiasm, knowledge, and a European perspective to your company.
Apply now, we have your candidate! Read more
here
.
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CHARMERS ENGINEERING STUDENTS AVAILABLE FOR INTERNSHIPS
Want a talented and motivated engineering intern? Chalmers University of Technology has 30 engineering students who are looking for internships lasting between 3 and 12 months to begin in June 2017. Chalmers University of Technology is one of Sweden's most prestigious schools, and has partnered with SACC-USA for years to provide access to highly competitive engineering students who are eager to come to the U.S. to gain practical and cultural experience. Participating students have completed at least three years of a five-year master's program.
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Offer to SACC Members from Orrefors & Kosta Boda
50% discount on opening order for all products
F
or almost 275 years, Orrefors and Kosta Boda have created crystal and glassware of the finest quality, influenced by the beauty of Sweden's nature. Orrefors has just released a number of fine Craft Beers and has also worked with Volvo to create a crystal gearshift for the new 2016 Volvo CX90. Kosta Boda is renowned for its ingenious and dynamic designs and is a leader in the glassware and art glass field.
Together these companies hold a strong role in the international market and are expected to continue to grow.
SACC members can enjoy a 50% discount off of retail prices on your opening order for all Orrefors and Kosta Boda products.
SACC members: please contact Donna Nardella, Corporate Director, at [email protected] for the discount.
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Offer to SACC Members from Volvo
Benefits with Volvo's A-Plan Plus membership
Volvo's transformation is in full bloom with new models and new product investments such as Drive-E power trains and connectivity that links Volvo cars to the world. Refined Scandinavian design and safety strengthen Volvo's commitment to its "Designed Around You" philosophy.
Volvo would therefore like to invite SACC members to become A-Plan Plus members, which is a level of service developed exclusi
vely for SACC members that is only available through Volvo's A-Plan Plus specialists at Volvo Cars of North America. The offer includes:
-Transparent A-Plan discounted pricing, being approximately 6% off MSRP on eligible models (
the same price Volvo Car USA employees pay).
-An additional $500 bonus on top of any local incentives and offers on eligible models.
Choose where to pick up your new Volvo in the U.S. or in Sweden through our Overseas Delivery Program.
SACC members:
to get your pin number.
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SACC REGIONAL CHAMBER EVENTS
What's Happening at Our Regional Chambers
April 18th
SACC-DC: How ready are you to Innovate?
April 20th
SACC-CHICAGO: Speaker Event with Max Knagge, SAS
April 20th
SACC-COLORADO: Professionals AfterWork 2017
April 24th
SACC-GEORGIA: Annual Golf Tournament
April 24th
SACC-HOUSTON: Nordic Traditional Thursday
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