Since 1989 SACC-DC has offered a platform for developing U.S. – Swedish lucrative commercial ventures and professional opportunities through our network and business and social events. The SACC-DC Newsletter will help you stay on top of what’s happening in the Swedish-American business community and find the perfect opportunity to create new business connections in the greater Washington D.C. area and Mid-Atlantic region. |
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From the Executive Director
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Dear Friends,
The Fall is upon us and with that a new school year that is looking like no other. While the Centers for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC) offers guidelines to safely reopen in-person education, many schools don’t have the funding for these extraordinary measures and parents and teachers are still concerned for their safety.
The economics of at-home online learning offers insights to the tune of a $34 billion back-to-school spending, 30% more than in 2019, the National Retail Federation reported. States find that per student costs are lower than when in their brick-and-mortar schools, cost benefits which could be critical to school districts and states facing budget shortfalls from the 2020 recession. Yet, most authorities recommend in-person education as the best way to serve students. That’s especially true for low-income students who often rely on the school system for lunches, counseling, and other services.
Fall also means back-to Washington D.C. for Congress, at least partially. Coronavirus relief negotiations and the government funding deadline are top of mind although no action is expected on any of these issues until later in the month. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told a House panel earlier in the month that there was broad agreement on small-business loans offered through the Paycheck Protection Program, school aid, tax rebate checks, and unemployment benefits, but added, “We may be differing on amounts.”
Also at the beginning of September, $1 trillion vanished from the value of seven of the big U.S. growth stocks as markets dove with investors questioning the sustainability of disruptive technology stocks lofty values, distinguishing between price and value.
And while not in the hammock any longer, take a look at Daniel Yergin’s new book The New Map - Energy, Climate, and the Clash of Nations, unfortunately very apropos in a month that has seen deadly wildfires producing some of the most unhealthy air on the planet for areas in Oregon, Washington state, and California.
Best,
Karin
P.S. Please scroll down the Newsletter to see what’s on the docket; don’t miss the webinar on Astra Zeneca’s and Oxford’s strides to develop and launch a vaccine!
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Spotlight - Zach Cafritz, Chief of Staff for Rep. Beyer
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Zach Cafritz has over 10 years of experience working at Capitol Hill, with a background in campaign politics and currently the acting Chief of Staff for Representative Don Beyer. Zach’s connection to Sweden encompasses his wife’s Swedish ancestry as well as Rep. Beyer’s involvement in the Congressional Friends of Sweden Caucus. Beyer owned a series of car dealerships in Virginia selling and servicing Swedish Volvo cars; another gateway for Beyer to all things “Sweden.”
The Friends of Sweden Caucus is a group of elected officials with a common interest in improving the relations between Sweden and the U.S., including individuals with personal ties to Sweden; businesses with Swedish connections or simply a general interest in the country. Rep. Beyer’s office often teams up with Rep. Bergman’s office to further the Caucus and also works with the Swedish embassy; the Swedish-American Chamber of Commerce (SACC) of Washington D.C. and its umbrella organization SACC-USA, and other Swedish organizations to bolster ties between the two countries.
With the general election fast approaching, Rep. Beyer is running for congress. Currently the main task for Zach and his team is to ensure that voting goes smoothly. In these difficult times of pandemic, the general public faces much uncertainty about voting procedures while adhering to health care guidelines. Additionally, it is unclear what the ramifications of the U.S. Postal Service crisis are.
“Our focus has been primarily on ensuring that everyone, particularly in Virginia, who wants to cast a ballot, can do so with ease and confidence”.
As for many of us, Covid-19 has increased an already significant workload for Zach and staff working from home, logged-on for much of the day. While acknowledging the importance of separating work time from personal time , Zach does feel that he has been quite efficient and effective from his home office . Rather than deriving drive from a personnel policy already in place, , it has been more a question of simply keep self-motivating, pushing and chugging along also when there is little to no guidance. Knowing that he works on behalf of the country in times of severe economic difficulties has been a key motivating factor , says Zach. In due time he will be looking forward to returning to office premises as Congress is an occupation that ultimately isn’t optimally managed remotely From an employee’s standpoint, at the moment ,it’s probably more pleasant to work in Sweden where reopening has come further along compared to D.C., muses Zach.
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We are happy to welcome our new business member YER USA! They are an international recruitment agency aiming to match highly educated talents with employers requiring mid to senior level positions being filled.
Stay tuned for a spotlight interview of YER in the October edition of our newsletter!
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TAKE THE OPPORTUNITY TO SPONSOR & PARTICIPATE IN THE SACC-DC OPEN
It is time to mark down the date for one of SACC-DC's most anticipated annual events, the 32nd SACC-DC Open. The classic tournament will be played at Westfields Golf Club offering an excellent opportunity for meeting new people and have a pleasant day on the beautiful golf course. Companies, members and sponsors will also have the opportunity to mingle afterwards, even if you are not an avid golfer!
The 32nd Swedish-American Chamber of Commerce DC Open – held on October 15, 2020 at 12 AM – is a tradition as old as the Chamber itself. This year, the re-branded event will be back with even more great opportunities to mingle with influential business leaders and clients in a relaxed outdoor setting while keeping prescribed physical distance. A golf tournament followed by a dinner, it is a day companies can gain exposure towards their most important clients or build new business relationships.
We are now offering companies the opportunity to take part in this great event by sponsoring the SACC-DC Open. It is also a way of supporting the continued work of SACC-DC thus contributing to our community!
You can find all the details about the sponsorship options here.
If you have any questions regarding the offerings or the event itself, please contact Executive Director Karin Hammar (Karin.hammar@sacc-dc.org) or call our office to learn more.
COVID-19 related measures
SACC-DC is continuously monitoring the situation and will take any steps necessary to ensure the health and safety of anyone attending our events. Local regulations regarding public gatherings as well as the health and safety policies of our host premises will be followed.
If the event is cancelled, sponsors will receive a full refund
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Upcoming Webinar - AstraZeneca and Oxford: A historic partnership to find a vaccine for COVID-19
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You’ll hear from Associate Professor Teresa Lambe, The Jenner Institute, Oxford University, discuss Oxford’s pioneering efforts to discover a safe and effective vaccine and their partnership with AstraZeneca. Also, you’ll hear Dr. Ann Taylor, Chief Medical Officer, and Head of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 Global Issues Management Team, discuss AstraZeneca’s comprehensive response to the pandemic.
The webinar will take place on September 28 at 2.00-3.15 EDT. More information and registration will be available soon.
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Webinar Opportunities: Sustainability Series 2020
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Renewable energy, green financing, bio-based materials, circular economy, sustainable logistics etc - sustainability is a highly popular topic!
We are currently looking for sponsors and hosts to our Sustainability Webinar Series. There is a great interest in sustainability in our Swedish-American network. Are you and/or your organization a sustainability-enthusiast and wants to update us about the latest innovations within this field? Do not hestitate to host, sponsor and/or participate in a webinar, dicussing your topics with other experts and business leaders!
Please contact Business Associate Thea Nguyen at Thea.nguyen@sacc-dc.org for further information!
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Renew your individual membership today!
SACC DC organizes many events throughout the year to give our members access to professional networking. Our annual flagship business events includes SACC Summit, the Young Professionals program and other corporate events, seminars and workshops. We also tailor trade missions for Swedish companies interested in the Greater Washington, D.C. area.
Whether an individual with a keen interest in or connection with Sweden living in D.C. or a company looking to establish new relationships, we can help you reach your next goal.
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SACC-DC hosted a webinar about the conventions together with eminent political strategist Kevin Holst. Kevin guided us through the major takeaways of the national conventions, sharing expertise knowledge on why Biden is leading over Trump, how the Trump campaign will close that gap and much more.
We were also provided with some information about Kevin’s connections to Sweden and his entirely new website, Valrapport, covering the presidential election exclusively in swedish.
Thank you, Kevin, we look forward working with you in the future!
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CONSIDERATIONS FOR GOING BACK TO WORK
A webinar on how to bring employees back to work during and after the pandemic.Our panelists covered the practicalities of returning to work from a legal, insurance and essential business point of view. Panelists discussed how companies with employees returning to work in the US can potentially take advantage of US Debt Relief Programs to pay for their workforce during a prolonged slowdown in business activity. We also touched insurance aspects and how to manage risk during Covid-19.
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SWEDISH NIGHT LIVE WITH SECURITAS AND SPECIAL GUESTS
Thank you to our sponsors Securitas and IKEA, Ambassador Karin Olofsdotter, guests and viewers for joining the Swedish Night Live (SNL) hosted by SACC-DC Board Member Andrew Dunn! Host extraordinaire Andrew and his Special Guests entertained us with good conversations in one-on-one interviews, sharing inspirational and amusing stories. We also got the skinny on Swedish and American slang and proverb. We were also treated to a bartender course with the amazing team Mikko. To cap the evening, participants mingled in smaller breakout groups – a great opportunity to network during times of social distancing!
If you would like put on your own SNL, please don’t hesitate to contact us at info@sacc-dc.org and we’ll help you shape the event to fit your profile and reach your audience!
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Webinar sponsorship and hosting
Dear Member,
The Swedish-American Chamber of Commerce of Washington D.C. (SACC-DC) is a nonprofit membership organization dedicated to the development of business relations between the United States and Sweden. Since 1989, SACC-DC has offered opportunities to explore and develop mutually beneficial U.S. - Swedish professional opportunities through business and social events. SACC-DC is one of 20 regional chambers across the United States, cooperating under the umbrella organization SACC-USA. SACC-USA serves more than 2,300 members, making it the second largest European Chamber of Commerce in the United States.
SACC-DC is excited to offer a number of webinar sponsorship and hosting opportunities for its members. The webinars are marketed throughout our distribution channels (see Table 1 for details). SACC-DC has experience hosting webinars with up to 250 attendees as well as smaller, more intimate and interactive seminars.
Sponsoring a webinar gives your company or organization visibility to the SACC-DC membership and distribution channels. Sponsorship is a great opportunity to support a topic or cause while also contributing to the Chamber's continued financial stability. Please view Table 2 for sponsorship options.
Hosting a webinar gives your company or organization the opportunity to shape and create a webinar in partnership with SACC-DC. The SACC-DC team will work with you to ensure that logistics and marketing are successful. Hosting gives you exclusive rights to market the event. Please view Table 2 for hosting options.
The SACC-DC team is looking forward to hearing from you at info@sacc-dc.org to discuss further!
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Would you like to bolster your organization with the fresh, international perspective of a qualified and bilingual trainee? |
SACC DC’s Extended Internship consists of Phase 1 and Phase 2, with both phases being 6 months long. When the trainee starts, they enter phase 1 for 6 months and dedicate their time to SACC DC support, without any financial support. After 6 months the trainee enters phase 2 and spends two days per week at the SACC DC office and three days per week at a host company. The intern receives a stipend of currently $ 1,800 / month.
The host company is a member at SACC DC and the trainee can be allocated to a host company in accordance with his/her knowledge and experience. The member companies at SACC DC include a wide variety of different industries and sectors, wherefore some skills and competences could be valued differently depending on the specific company. Consequently, all member companies are welcome to voice their opinions regarding what qualities they want future trainees to possess.
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Ovzon is looking for a Chief Commercial Officer |
Ovzon is revolutionizing mobile broadband via satellite with the highest bandwidth through the smallest terminals. They are now looking for a CCO who will drive Ovzon's global sales team, working closely with their Key Account Manager Satellite Operations team. This role is a new one and gives the candidate a possibility to help shape the exciting future of Ovzon!
Please click here for further information about the roll and application instructions.
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Thriving real estate market in Stockholm in spite of Covid-19 |
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Stockholm’s real estate market is now emulating the rest of the country in experiencing an inclining amount of home sales. Other main cities and regions throughout the country recovered fairly quickly from the economic decline in terms of real estate sales, but now Stockholm is experiencing a surging rise in real estate prices, despite Stockholm being the most infectious region in all of Scandinavia. The growth can be ascribed to a low swedish interest rate as well as an ongoing grace period, acting as advantageous factors in terms of personal finance and mitigating the negative consequences of a high unemployment rate. The real estate market has seen a certain rise in demand for villas, possibly due to a general assumption that people will remain working from home in the foreseeable future.
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Significant real estate boom in D.C in times of pandemic
Similar to Stockholm, the real estate market in D.C. area, along with the rest of the U.S., is booming with skyrocketing demand and higher prices in spite of a 10.2 % unemployment rate and a severe economic decline. When Covid-19 struck in March, the market initially froze. But it recovered rapidly since D.C. area residents spent more time than ever at home and many realized they wanted their own home office and more outdoor space. Houses with a pool sold quickly. And having a short commute became less important, according to Petra Socolovsky, realtor at Wydler Brothers of Compass. More people wanting to buy than sell, drives up home prices and so do record low interest rates which increase the buyers' purchasing power. Petra says economists believe interest rates will remain low for some time and that working virtually for home will continue to some extent, possibly leading to a prolonged demand for suburban homes with private outdoor space while new condos downtown won’t sell as fast.
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The Forces of Change in Business & Politics
SACC-USA is honored to welcome you to the SACC-USA flagship event, the Executive Forum in House of Sweden, Washington, D.C. on October 1, 2020.
The theme – The Forces of Change – will cover the latest on innovation and how revolutionary technologies are creating new ways of doing business. Considering the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, it will also explore how this challenge has and will affect business and particularly trade. With election day just one month away, SACC-USA will have recognized political pundits and politicians debate and share their insights and predictions for the 2020 U.S. elections.
The event is approaching full capacity for the event and strongly recommend you register at your earliest convenience to secure a ticket! Read the full program here
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