The Swedish-American Chamber of Commerce Georgia strengthens economic trade, commerce and investment between Sweden and the State of Georgia, creates a distinctive networking platform for the international business community, and provides a forum for cultural outreach and education.

Georgia is the place to be, it offers international business partners a thriving community of global commerce and the most culturally diverse environment in the region. Georgia is the crossroads of the US by air, land and sea. With the world’s largest airport, two deep water ports, and the most extensive surface transportation network in the country, Georgia can provide you access to over 80 percent of the U.S. industrial market within a couple of days.

Whether you are looking for business contacts, need trade related information, or have an interest in the Swedish culture, you will benefit from what Georgia and SACC-Georgia can offer.

SACC-Georgia thanks Jacob Wallenberg for a successful Speaker Series event

On February 20th SACC-Georgia and the Metro Atlanta Chamber hosted a Speaker Series event  together with Jacob Wallenberg. He spoke about a very relevant topic:  “Sweden and the US in the global economy, challenges and opportunities in the light of the euro crisis”. 

Gary Bruce, Chairman SACC-Georgia and Jacob Wallenberg, Chairman Investor AB

For a slide show of the event clickhere

 Jacob Wallenberg is the Chairman of the Board of Investor AB and Vice-Chairman of SEB, Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB.  Mr. Wallenberg also serves on the Boards of SAS AB (Vice Chairman), Ericsson AB (Vice Chairman), ABB Ltd and The Coca-Cola Company.

We hope that everybody that attended enjoyed the event. Check out upcoming events for more opportunities to attend cultural and professional events by SACC-Georgia!

SACC-Georgia visited The Georgia State Capitol

SACC-Georgia visited The Georgia State Capitol where Tom Taylor, Georgia House Representative of district 79, gave us a guided tour inside the State Capitol.

SACC-Georgia would like to tank everyone who attended The Speaker Series Event with Karl Schamotta

We would like to thank Karl Schamotta, Senior Market Strategist and a currency expert, along with everybody who attended the SACC-Georgia Speaker Series Event last Thursday (11/1/2012) in Buckhead. Karl gave a very interesting insight in how the world’s economy is linked to each other and how this will affect the future of the Euro cooperation.

Be sure to check out the website for more upcoming Speaker Series!

SACC-Georgia thanks Jeremie Kubicek for an interesting and successful Speaker Series Event!

We hope that everybody that attended enjoyed the event. Check out upcoming events for more opportunities to attend cultural and professional events by SACC-Georgia!

SACC-Georgia attended the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce’s International Partner’s Meeting & Quickstart Tour

SACC-Georgia got the privilege to attend the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce’s International Partner’s Meeting together with a site tour of the federally funded training consultant company Quickstart.

The event was very fruitful and many contacts were established which you as a member might be able to take the advantage of in the near future.

Check out our upcoming events for more information organized by SACC-Georgia!

SACC-Georgia attended the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce’s International Partner’s Meeting & Quickstart Tour

SACC-Georgia got the privilege to attend the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce’s International Partner’s Meeting together with a site tour of the federally funded training consultant company Quickstart.

The event was very fruitful and many contacts were established which you as a member might be able to take the advantage of in the near future.

Check out our upcoming events for more information organized by SACC-Georgia!

SACC-Georgia thanks Ralph Skalleberg and all attendants for the fascinating Skaltek Factory Tour Event

We would like to thank Ralph Skalleberg  along with everybody who attended the SACC-Georgia Skaltek Factory Tour Event yesterday evening (24/05/2012) in Norcross, GA. Ralph Skalleberg introduced and described Skaltek and the groundbreaking ideas and visions that have made the company what it is today. He also showed the facilities and the machines that are used for creating and packing 90 % of the cables present on the U.S. market.

Check out upcoming events for more opportunities to attend cultural and professional events by SACC-Georgia!

The Swedish Incubators & Science Parks visits Atlanta and SACC-Georgia

Last Friday (May 11^th), The Swedish Incubators & Science Parks (SISP) visited the Coca-Cola Company and Georgia Aquarium together with the Swedish American Chamber of Commerce, Georgia. SISP is a Swedish non-profit membership-based organization and had been attending NBIA’s International Conference on Business Incubation held in Atlanta earlier that week. However, they made sure to take the opportunity to visit two of the largest businesses in the area, which the Swedish American Chamber of Commerce, Georgia organized for them.

Do you or your group have an interest in visiting or getting in touch with local businesses in Georgia as well? Do not hesitate to contact us here at SACC-Georgia!

We are pleased to announce that the Swedish-Danish tennis teams once again won the annual Bi-National Tennis Tournament!

Last Sunday (May 6th), the Swedish American Chamber of Commerce joined forces with the Danish American Chamber of Commerce and set up a squad of tennis players that was set to go up against players representing the French American and Australian New Zealand American Chambers of Commerce. For the second consecutive year, we managed to take home the trophy! For more pictures from this glorious day, click on the image below.

Exports, Emerging Markets Drive Sweden’s Elekta

- article from GlobalAtlanta.com. To get to the article, click here

Cancer treatment has become more effective and affordable over the years, but the disease driving the rapid global growth of a Swedish medical technology company shows no signs of slowing down.

Elekta, which has its U.S. headquarters in Atlanta, has seen astronomical growth since introducing machines that treat cancer by radiation therapy, which Elekta President and CEO Tomas Puusepp said is less invasive than surgery and often more effective than drugs.

Of the $350 billion in spending on U.S. cancer care, radiation therapy only accounts for $6 billion, a number set to rise dramatically, Mr. Puusepp said at a Swedish-American Chamber of Commerce Georgia event held on April 13.

Elekta has already begun to ride this wave. Its share price on Stockholm‘s OMX Nordic Exchange has jumped 171 percent over the last five years, ending Tuesday up 2 points to 354.8, a 0.57 percent change. Revenues stood at $1.1 billion in the fiscal year ending in April 2011. The company now employs 3,400 people across 40 entities around the world.

“We basically don’t have an expat. Our philosophy has always been ‘Please make sure you get the best people locally,’” Mr. Puusepp said.

Adapting to foreign business environments and keeping patient needs at the forefront have been keys to success, he said.

Elekta products are used to treat about 10 percent of the 12 million cancer cases worldwide. Though many more people are beating breast cancer, prostate cancer and other forms of the disease, global cancer diagnoses are set to rise by nearly 50 percent to 17 million by 2020, Mr. Puusepp said.

That sounds like defeat, but the rise is partially a function of longer life spans, bolstered by new technologies that catch and stop cancer before it kills. It’s also because people in the developing world are gaining access to diagnostic equipment, presenting a huge opportunity for medical-device companies.

Global From Birth

Elekta isn’t new to international growth. The company had to start exporting while still in its infancy, when it was cash-starved and only had about 20 employees in a home market of less than 10 million people.

“We didn’t have any muscle from a money point of view and we had to go global immediately,” Mr. Puusepp said.

Against all recommendations, the small company entered Japanthrough a partnership, carefully structuring the deal that enabled it to benefit from any long-term growth in the world’s second-largest health care market.

“We must have been smoking something when we started because everything was actually against success at the time. We were stupid enough not to listen,” Mr. Puusepp said.

Elekta is careful never to let distributors own the licensing rights or the regulatory approvals. Now more than 90 percent of sales are generated by Elekta’s organization. Less than 2 percent of its revenues come from Sweden.

Sales are split almost evenly among the major world regions, with software and services accounting for a small majority in North America, while hardware makes up more than 60 percent of sales in other regions.

With large, aging populations, emerging markets in Asia – especially China and India - have become major drivers of growth. Sales in the region were up 18 percent in 2010-11 as governments ramped up their health care capabilities. Growth is constrained less by a lack of sales and more by a lack of skilled technologists, a problem Elekta is trying to fix by establishing its own training centers.

Going Forward

In the near future, Elekta will continue investing about 8 percent of sales into research and development, which Mr. Puusepp said is key to maintaining its technological edge.

The company will use social media to drive public relations and hopes to better mine its huge database of cancer patients.

In short, the company would like to “own” the cancer care process, providing value for the patient at each step of the way, Mr. Puusepp said.

He knows personally how important that is for those facing the prospect of treatment: Both his father and sister died of cancer.

“I wanted to be part of the solution,” he said of why he joined the company.

Elekta is a major patron of the Swedish-American chamber in Atlanta. The company provides office space for interns and funding for activities. Chamber officials held the luncheon in part to show appreciation for Elekta’s contributions.

- Trevor Williams
Atlanta, 04.17.12

SACC-Georgia thanks Tomas Puusepp, President & CEO of Elekta, and all attendants for the interesting and successful Speaker Series Event

We would like to thank Tomas Puusepp along with everybody who attended the SACC-Georgia Speaker Series Event last Friday (13/04/2012) at the Commerce Club in Atlanta. Tomas Puusepp introduced and described Elekta’s line of business, as well as presenting some of the upcoming challenges and possibilities for the company and for the medical industry.

Tomas Puusepp’s and Elekta’s vital support to SACC-Georgia was acknowledged and thanked for by our Vice Chairman Benedikt Ibing and Chairman Gary Bruce.

Check out upcoming eventsfor more opportunities to attend cultural and professional events by SACC-Georgia!