Business Card Exchange
On Nov 16 we met at the Swedish Consulate - together with the Council of European Chamber of Commerce.
The SACC Seattle Entrepreneurial Advisory Board had just finished their first meeting and joined us. We were served appetizers and drinks and it was a very nice evening and many business contacts were made.
Our featured speaker, Patricia Chase with International Sustainable Solutions (I-Sustain) is an experts on global best practices on urban sustainable development, having led several study tours to Sweden and other regions. Patricia held an interesting speach on ways for U.S. to learn from Infrastructure over in Sweden and Denmark and the clean and sustainable thinking that is in the culture. She was talking about Green Roof, Waste to Energy Management and other interesting topics and her next trip in to the area in December. For more information, please visit http://www.i-sustain.com/.
The guests were surprised by a couple of door prices from Microsoft and Hotel Andra. Thank you for bringing those!
We are sending a big Thank You to the Swedish Honorary Consul, Lars Jonsson for hosting this event at the Consulate.
The event also gave opportunities to learn more about the Sweden Week May 3-9, 2010 and planned business days scheduled for May 5 - 7, 2010 in Seattle. For more information, please visit www.swedenweek.org Companies and organizations present were: Swedish Consulate, Embassy of Sweden, Stellar, SACC Seattle, SACC-USA, Council of European Chamber, University of Washington, State of WA, Swedcal Invest, April System Design, Inc., 3gLogix, I-Sustain, Northwest Energy Angels, Telecom City, US Defense Services, Nordic Heritage Museum, Giftware, Hotel Andra, Port of Tacoma, On Safari Foods, Inc., Isilion Systems, The Henry Jackson School of International Studies UW, Microsoft, British-American Business Council, Turner Construction, Hipple Travel Photo, Starcrest Consulting, Ryan Swanson & Cleveland PLLC, U.S.Bank, Anna Powers Jewelry, Pacific Juris, Hilleberg the Tentmaker, Hanson, Baker & Drumheller, Stoel Rivers, Seattle Children's, Port of Seattle, John L Scott
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Freddie Ljungberg invited SACC Seattle to a practice session
On Thursday October 22th, former Swedish Soccer Captain, Fredrik "Freddie" Ljungberg, and his Seattle Sounders teammates showcased their skills during a practice session at Qwest Field. A specially invited crowd consisting of SACC Seattle members and their families, mostly Swedes, as well as a handful of Americans, enjoyed the wonderful Swedish pastime of "Fika" with coffee, hot chocolate and cookies during the one-and-a-half hours practice
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Sounders, who are facing the last game of their inaugural season in the MLS on Saturday vs. FC Dallas, had scheduled this practice at Qwest Field to prepare for the game and to get ready for the playoffs. The Sounders secured their playoff spot in their last game against the Kansas City Wizards. Playoff action will start either October 29 or November 5. We wish the Sounders the best of luck in the playoffs, and we will definitely be giving them our utmost support on the game this Saturday.
Today's event wound up with a short meet and greet with Freddie on the pitch. We all got a little chat with Freddie, took some pictures and got our "banners" signed. All in all, a very successful event that we hope we can offer our members again next season!
Filip Persson Beckman, SACC Seattle
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SACC Seattle's met the Governor
SACC-Seattle was on site when Washington State Governor Christine Gregoire visited the Nordic Heritage Museum in Ballard, Oct 8th, to talk about the Nordic influence on the Washington region. This "meet and greet" event was hosted by the Nordic Heritage Museum, and was led by the Museum's CEO Eric Nelson. Accompanying Nelson was Board President, Margaret Wright, and the Capital Campaign's Mari-Ann Kind Jackson, who first walked through the exhibition 'Dream of America' with a handful of State representatives.
Given that Ballard is a community much influenced by the Nordic settlers who came to the Pacific Northwest during the eighteenth- and nineteenth-century, it is no surprise that a successful and vibrant Nordic Heritage Museum has been founded here. The Museum is slated to be relocated, and its newly-built quarters at Market Street will be ready by 2014. From there, it will continue to proudly serve the Ballard and Seattle community.
Washington Senator Jeanne Kohl-Welles said she is glad the state government could contribute $1.5 million for the relocation project, the Capital Campaign, of the "unique museum that everyone so treasures."
Also present was 36th District Representative Reuven Carlyle. The Museum's Capital Campaign has a particularly deep meaning for the Jewish-American Carlyle because the five nations represented by the museum gave shelter to many Jews fleeing the Holocaust during World War II.
In her speech, Governor Gregoire related the story of one man's incredible journey from Sweden to the US. Arriving at Ellis Island in New York with only $5 dollars in his pocket, the young Swede worked his way through the country to Seattle, continued on to Alaska and then returned to Seattle to open up a shoe store in Ballard. That shoe shop is now Nordstrom. Governor Gregoire said, "When you look back at the struggles these people had," said Gov. Gregoire, "and apply it to the troubling times in terms of economy that we now experience, we can come back!? "
Governor Gregoire also emphasized the impact the Nordic countries have had, and continue to have, when it comes to environmental stewardship and sustainability. This is a subject that is very near and dear to her and she feels America and the rest of the world need to follow.
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