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,
I hope you all are enjoying the summer as much as the SACC-DC team is. Although the summer tends to fly by quickly, you don't have to feel sorry because that also means that D.C. is gearing up for the midterms while Sweden prepares for the general election, and, of course, the SACC-DC Crayfish Party is getting closer. In collaboration with Volvo Group, we are excited to yet again share this Swedish tradition with you after two years cancellations due to the pandemic. We are also happy to announce that the tickets to the SACC-DC 2022 Open are released. You can find more information further down below about these two events.
Earlier this month, we had the pleasure of meeting this year’s Wallenberg International Fellows for a happy hour at our office. The Wallenberg International Fellows Program prepares highly qualified master-level students for big tasks in the future. We are pleased to have three new students in the city to represent the Stockholm School of Economics as well as Sweden.
In this newsletter, you can also read an interesting article about our Board Member Robert Thomas’ work at Elekta and what policy work is like in the D.C. cancer treatment sector.
Happy reading!
Lotta Kramer
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Member Spotlight: Robert Thomas, SVP Corporate and Governmental Affairs at Elekta |
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You have been working at Elekta since 2013. Please provide an overview of Elekta’s operation and your role there.
My role as Senior Vice President of Corporate and Government Fffairs is to primarily run the Washington DC political and policy office as well as manage the internal corporate communication in the region of North America. I have been working with government affairs since my start at Elekta, but I added the corporate communication responsibility about three years ago.
Elekta is a cancer care company, and medical device manufacturer. We handle all the things within the radiation therapy space for the treatment of cancer. Our vision is a world where everyone has access to the best cancer care. To get there, we are offering clinicians to treat more patients with increased quality, both with value-creating innovations in solutions and AI-supported service based on a global network. Elekta is a wonderful place to work because of its intellectual capacity and commitment to fighting cancer and that is pervasive to all our employees around the world. No matter what your role at Elekta is, it is a great feeling to work in an environment where you are helping patients every day.
How have cancer treatments changed during your time at Elekta?
Cancer treatments continue to develop and the technology is consistently getting more advanced. You cannot survive in this business without improving patient outcomes. Although the pace of the improvements is never fast enough for anybody, it does continue to get better. The technology gets safer, more efficient, and more cost-effective. What we need to do is make sure that countries around the world, including the U.S., appreciate an innovation type of culture where innovation is recognized and rewarded in terms of fair and adequate reimbursement for services provided. The world has a lot of pay systems and here in the U.S., if your technology is wonderful but you don’t have fair and adequate reimbursement, then you cannot penetrate the market, and if you cannot do so, you cannot help patients. A big part of my responsibility is to make sure that policymakers here in the U.S. appreciate innovation and have fair and stable reimbursement.
How is it to work with lobbying and governmental relations in such a politically influential city as Washington D.C., especially when working for a company with Swedish origin?
It is very interesting. When you have U.S. based competitors trying to brand you as a foreign entity, there are a lot of folks out there who we remind that Elekta provides thousands of Americans with jobs and also helps hundreds of thousands of American patients with our technology. You have to define the good that you do and not let your competitors define you. You have to stay above the petty political nonsense because cancer does not care whether you are a democrat or republican. Our work cannot be caught up with political ideology. I have to be able to adapt to any type of administration and we cannot have any preferences on who is controlling the United States. I am very fond of saying ”We work with who wins.”
Can you tell us about your four-year experience as Board Member at SACC-DC?
It is a wonderful experience to work with exceptionally talented people on the board. They are truly motivated to help Swedish and American companies grow and come together to help grow businesses that have a presence in Washington. Not only is SACC-DC engaged with helping businesses network, but there is also fantastic engagement in the political and diplomatic circle, and I think the combination makes it a great organization. I have been working closely with the membership committees, but I have also been working with supporting numerous events, including the Crayfish Party, the Golf Tournament, and the Holiday Party. I leverage my 30+ years of experience to contribute with ideas that help the chamber navigate difficult challenges and opportunities.
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Welcome, Tetra Pak to the SACC-DC Community! |
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New SACC-DC member Tetra Pak is a world-leader in the food processing and packaging solutions sector boasting more than 70 years of experience and over 25,000 employees worldwide. Initially established to provide pre-packaging for liquid food products, Tetra Pak expanded to specialize in complete solutions across the value chains of processing, packaging, and distribution of food products. Among the 192 billion products sold in 2021 across several product lines, Tetra Pak’s most recognizable products include the Tetra Brik Aseptic and the Tetra Classic Aseptic, both pictured below. To remain at the forefront of the industry, Tetra Pak prioritizes inventive products and technology to both reduce the cost to distributors and to end-customers, while simultaneously paving the way for a sustainable future for an industry with a significant potential to aid in the green transition to come. Not only has environmental sustainability been a long-term focal point of Tetra Pak’s business model, but another prevalent focus of the company is to ensure the safety of food consumers around the globe. This has led to Tetra Pak engaging in food systems resilience with the objective of facilitating the UN’s food systems commitments.
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ABB is Attempting to Enter the Guinness Book of Record |
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Our Corporate Member ABB is one of the main partners attempting to launch the longest passenger train in the world. The project is initiated by the Swiss Rhaetian Railway to celebrate the 175th anniversary of Switzerland’s railway system. The two kilometers long train, consisting of 100 carriages, will be powered by ABB’s energy-efficient traction technology enabling the recovering of regenerative braking energy, which is the most energy-efficient converter that exists and is completely powered by hydropower. The environmental-friendly train will travel on the UNESCO World Heritage Albula/Bernina line. A successful attempt will result in ABB entering the Guinness Book of Records. Read more about the train and ABB’s contribution here.
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Business Services Provided by SACC DC |
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SACC-DC holds a unique position to provide members valuable connections with other member companies or small business, potentially resulting in new collaborations, clients, and partnerships. Read more about our B2B Matchmaking service and how to make a request here.
Your company has the opportunity to be assisted by a Business Associate or a trainee with short-term projects aiming to increase your knowledge about specific markets. Read more about our Trade Services and how to make a request here.
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The Wallenberg International Fellows |
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We welcome Wallenberg International Fellows Emna Khadri, Isak Öhlund and Wuraola Okuwobi to Washington D.C.! The Wallenberg International Fellows Program is a collaboration between Georgetown University and Stockholm School of Economics funded by a grant from the Marianne and Marcus Wallenberg Foundation. The mission of the program is to prepare highly qualified master-level students with the knowledge and skills to serve as the leaders of international businesses as well as public and private organizations around the globe.
The annual Fellows cohort is composed of three MA honors students from the International Business Diplomacy Program at Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service and three MA students from the Stockholm School of Economics. The Georgetown University students participate in a substantive summer internship in Sweden with placement support from Novare and the SSE students are placed in a substantive internship in the DC area. The internship summer is followed by joint studies at Georgetown University during the fall semester, allowing them to learn from world-class faculty and collaborate with one another in a classroom setting. Finally, the Fellows participate in a variety of cultural and business programming to further develop cross cultural understanding and business networks.
SACC-USA is pleased to be the J-1 visa sponsor for the Wallenberg International Fellows’ summer internship in the U.S. We at SACC-DC enjoy having the Wallenberg International Fellows as members. We already got to know each other at a happy hour in our offices recently. We look forward to seeing all six Wallenberg Fellows at our fall events, starting with the Crayfish Party.
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Tickets are Available for the Crayfish Party |
Crayfish Party is a traditional eating holiday with origin in Sweden. The Swedish holiday is generally held in the late summer, with purpose to celebrate the crayfish harvest. Our annual SACC-DC Crayfish Celebration, located at House of Sweden, is set for September 13. The tickets have now been released and you can secure your tickets here. |
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Tickets are Available for the Annual SACC-DC Open |
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We are thrilled to finally announce that the tickets to our most anticipated event of the year, the 34th Annual SACC-DC Golf Open, are released!
This year’s tournament will be held on October 13 at Westfields Golf Club, VA. Grab your ticket to not miss out on a day full of networking with DMV business executives, primetime golfing mixed with fun activities and prizes followed, by an exclusive dinner reception. The tournament is presented in a proud partnership with the Whitman-Walker Foundation to benefit and raise awareness of equal health care for all.
You can either buy a foursome (a team of four players) or individual tickets, the alternatives are available for both members and non-members. You can buy and read more about the tickets here.
If you want to put your company in the spotlight at our biggest and most anticipated event, or if you just want to play and mingle, don't hesitate to reach out to our Business Associate Noel Rodhe at noel.rodhe@sacc-dc.org
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SACC Summit in Florida
Fort Lauderdale, FL, November 3-4
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The annual SACC Summit is a key event to support and facilitate economic expansion and business between the United States and Sweden. Gathering business leaders and entrepreneurs together with representatives from 20 regional Swedish-American Chambers of Commerce, the SACC Summit provides a robust platform for customer discovery and business development. Participants will also have the opportunity to meet regional decision makers in Florida, a prime location for business.
Price for SACC early bird until the 1st of July $295 (non-member $395) and $395 (non-member $495) afterwards. You can buy your tickets here.
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Interested in joining the SACC DC community?
Become a member!
Visit our membership page to join as a new member, or renew your membership through the membership portal. SACC DC organizes many events throughout the year to give our members access to professional networking. 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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