WORDS FROM OUR PRESIDENT

We had an amazing experience at the SACC Summit in Boston, two days filled with interesting speakers, panel discussions, sponsor exhibitions and networking. The theme for the summit was Business Through Innovation and Boston was the perfect location, as it is a hub for emerging startups in science and technology. We had the chance to listen to prominent speakers from MIT, among them Professor Robert Langer and Associate Director Lauren C. Foster. The Swedish minister for Enterprise and Innovation - Mikael Damberg held an informative speech about Sweden and its drive for innovation. We also had the chance to meet Erik Gatenholm, a rising Swedish bio-tech star who participated in a panel discussion about The Future of Academia. He also gave us the chance to see his 3D printer, which is printing human organs and tissue!  If interested, r ead more about  Erik Gatenholm and his company CELLINK further down and on our website.

SACC summit day two was our Chambers' internal day, when we discussed topics such as a how we can add value to membership and New Wave Group's expansion in the U.S. It was a wonderful day filled with many interesting discussions about our future and w e are looking forward for next year's SACC summit in Texas and the new ideas it will bring.

I am very pleased to announce our pilot project "American Tech Talent to Sweden." Ten Swedish companies will get the opportunity to host technology talent from the U.S. for 3-18 months on a special Swedish work permit for training. Please contact  Cecilia Kullman, [email protected] , if your company in Sweden is interested in hosting tech talent from the U.S. This is an opportunity for American technology graduates (or students toward the end of study) interested in going to Sweden as part of this pilot project. 

Hope you continue to have a great fall season!



Host an American technology student or recent graduate from top U.S. universities on a special Swedish work permit for practical training. For more information visit our website or contact Cecilia Kullman, [email protected]
Great moments from SACC Summit in Boston

President of Wolf Greenfield Tim Oyer and Senior Advisor Research & Technology of Volvo Group Torbjörn Holmström giving their thoughts about this years Summit.

INSIGHTS 
 
One Year: Trump and Trade

From the moment he threw his hat into the ring, to the day he was sworn into office, President Trump has continued to push one single, alluring idea that won him his presidency- "Make America Great Again." Throughout his campaign, this phrase became more than just a slogan to win votes, but an anthem for the American people to rally behind. Behind all the bravado and powerful speeches however, lies the crucial question of how President Trump intends to fulfill this promise. How does one make America great again?

NEWS 
The rising star of bio-tech - Erik Gatenholm - Swedish bioprinting company paving the way for the future of medicine

CELLINK is a 3D Bioprinting company that has gone from startup to being listed on Nasdaq First North in just one year. One of the two founders, Erik Gatenholm, visited The Swedish American Chambers of Commerce yearly event SACC Summit in Boston at the end of October to discuss Business Through Innovation and to exhibit his 3D printer. 

- I had a great time and it was a fantastic opportunity to visit SACC Summit in Boston, says Erik Gatenholm. The best parts of the event was being able to participate in panel discussions about the Future of Academia and to meet fellow industry leaders.

Cellink is a Sweden-based bio-tech company that commercializes bioinks for 3D bioprinting of human organs and tissue. Erik Gatenholm started CELLINK together with Hector Martinez Avila in January 2016, both expressing a deep interest in 3D printing and the doors it could open. Little did they know that the company would end up growing at such a fast pace in the upcoming year, mainly through hard work and persistence.

- Instead of 3D printing plastics we developed a new material, a bioink, made out of cellulose from the Swedish forest industry and a few other components allowing for printing of human tissues, Erik Gatenholm says as he explains the beginnings of the company.

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Erik Gatenholm and Hector Martinez Avila showcase their 3D printer at SACC Summit in Boston
More Americans positive toward Sweden during the past year

A new study from the Swedish Institute shows that more than one in every four American states have developed a more positive perception of Sweden in the last year. This increase is in spite of the misleading and incorrect information regarding Sweden currently being circulated in the news and social media.

- We have never done a study on Canada and the U.S.'s image of Sweden before and it's about time, says Jacob Stenberg, analyst at the Swedish Institute.

The report is based on a survey conducted in Canada and the United States. The study shows that the image of Sweden is strong in both countries and that there is little presence of regional differences. More specifically, it is young people in big cities that have developed a more positive picture of Sweden over the past year.

The Green Battery

Northvolt , a high quality producer of batteries focused on electrification and renewable energy storage, announced its plans on October 19 th  to build Europe's largest lithium-ion battery manufacturing factory in partnership with the municipality of Skellefteå in northern Sweden. Predicted to employ around 2,500 people and requiring an investment of 4 billion euro towards construction, this gigafactory aims to not only provide better batteries for electric transportation, but to eventually create a product with zero carbon footprint.


Nobel Prize for Nudging

On October 9 th , American Richard Thaler won the Nobel Prize for his work on behavioral  economics. Born in New Jersey in 1945, he spent most of his career studying at Cornell University before moving to the University of Chicago. His contributions to the study of economics focus on a subfield of study that explores how psychological biases cause people to act in ways that diverge from pure rational self-interest. While most economic theory is based off the assumption that consumers and individuals act rationally, this area starts off on a different assumption- that human reasoning does not follow the rational  homo economicus . 

His findings  illuminate key irrational tendencies within human behavior, such as mental accounting, the compartmentation of money into separate groupings, and the endowment tendency, the idea that individuals' aversion to loss exceeds their desire for gains. Both theories highlight the importance of how economic choices are framed, as this can influence how effective public policy can be.


Richard Thaler received the 2017 Nobel Price in economics
MEMBER  SPOTLIGHT 
Ylva Freihofer - Adding value to SACC-DC's members
 

Ylva Freihofer is the Executive Director for Swedish-American Chamber of Commerce Washington D.C. The SACC-DC Chamber focuses on adding value for their corporate, business, individual and young professional members, and this is done in a number of ways. One important aspect of SACC-DC's commitment to its affiliates is getting involved with consulting services, event management and hosting several corporate events a year to increase network integration and cohesion. This includes the famed crayfish celebration, Golf tournament and Holiday Event.

In regard to consulting services, they aim to attract and organize incoming fact-finding missions for Swedish business delegations to the greater Washington D.C. area. In the beginning of November, they arranged, together with SACC-USA, a seminar for the Swedish healthcare association Swecare.


Ylva Freihofer togheter with SACC-DC's trainees Gabrielle Törnberg and Rickard Ekstedt
TRAINEE PROGRAM SUCCESS STORY  
Hitcham "Hitch" Larhnimi

When Hicham "Hitch" Larhnimi first came to the United Stated, as a tennis playing scholarship student in San Francisco, he never thought that he would become the Vice President of the Swedish American Chamber of Commerce in South Florida, neither did he believe that he was going to start his own company six years later. I had the opportunity to speak to this successful entrepreneur and to hear his story about his journey, from being a 20-year-old "enjoyer of life" in San Francisco, to the hard-working Swedish General Manager of the ride-hailing company "Heetch". Hicham is a person that chases new challenges and he believes that there is always a solution to any problem. 

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Need some engineering skills? 45 engineering students from Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden are looking for a U.S. internship for 3 -12 months beginning in June 2018. Chalmers, founded 1829, is a highly ranked technology university. Participating students have completed at least three years of a five-year master's program. Choose between ten different technology fields, from Automation to Software Engineering.

SACC-USA is an official J-1 visa sponsor designated by the U.S. Department of State and will assist with the visa application. The host company writes a training plan detailing what the intern will do and learn. Interns are not subject to Social Security or Medicare tax and have their own health insurance. For more information, please contact Cecilia Kullman, [email protected] or visit sacc-usa.org/trainee.
Nordic Cleantech Conference in San Diego

On the 16th of November, several Nordic companies, business leaders and officials will visit San Diego to attend the 6th annual cleantech conference Green Connections . The themes of the conference are smart water and renewable energy, two areas where the Nordic countries are trailblazers. The conference is preceded by a Trade Mission arranged in collaboration with the Swedish Agency for Economic and Regional Growth and Swedish Cleantech .

The conference is hosted by the Swedish American Chamber of Commerce together with the Finnish American Chamber of Commerce and is held at the SDG&E Energy Innovation Center in Clairemont, San Diego. It will feature Dana Arnold, COO of Measurabl and Katarina Veem of the prestigious Stockholm International Water Institute along with many other exciting speakers and panel discussions.  
Get your tickets now!
 


Trump 
Miljarderna, medierna och makten

Karin Henriksson has been covering US politics from Washington for various Swedish media outlets for 30 years, mainly the daily Svenska Dagbladet. She has written several books, among them biographies of presidents Reagan and Trump, and the first translation into Swedish of the US Constitution! She has now released  a new book about President Trump.
 


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