Past Events
Below you can read about our past events. You can also view previous issues of our newsletter The SACCess through this link:
National Day of Sweden
On Sunday June 6th, 2010, the National Day of Sweden, the Swedish-American community of Washington gathered for a picnic in the beautiful garden of Ambassador Jonas Hafström. The guests enjoyed welcome remarks by the Ambassador, singing of the National Anthem and a concert by the Lund University Academic Orchestra, a 60-piece symphonic orchestra currently on tour in the U.S.
Valborgsmässoafton
On Friday April 30th over 100 guests gathered in the residence of Minister Claes Hammar of the Embassy of Sweden to celebrate the arrival of spring with a traditional Swedish 'Valborgsmässoafton' festivity. This included a performance by a Swedish song group, a bonfire and a delicious summer buffet. The bar was sponsored by Karlsson's Gold Vodka. Please click here to view photos from the event.
Tom Adams - CEO of Rosetta Stone
On Wednesday March 17th, SACC Washington DC hosted an event together with the French-American Chamber of Commerce of Washington DC proudly presenting Tom Adams, CEO of Rosetta Stone. Mr. Adams gave a captivating presentation, describing the remarkable rise of Rosetta Stone from a small, family-owned company in 2003 to a publicly-listed, global business today.
How Maryland lured the 'Green Vikings'
Read a Special Edition Newsletter about the event by clicking here
2010 Annual Meeting and Wilhelm Wachtmeister Award Ceremony
Amb. Jonas Hafström, Sven-Olof Hökborg, Bradley J. Olson
SACC Washington DC held its Annual Meeting on January 21st, 2010 at House of Sweden. At the meeting incoming Chairman Bradley J. Olson made a presentation where he commented on the positive financial result for 2009 and highlighted some of the successful events of the past year. He also presented the calendar of events for 2010 and thanked the Board of Directors as well as the office staff for their work and dedication to the Chamber.
Following the annual meeting, Major General Sven-Olof Hökborg, Swedish Air Force (ret.), was awarded the SACC Washington DC Wilhelm Wachtmeister Award. Approximately 90 guests were present to see Gen. Hökborg receive the award – an engraved crystal dish designed by renowned artist Ingegerd Råman. General Hökborg was recognized for his lifelong commitment and extraordinary contributions to strengthening Swedish–American relations, with a focus on the sector of defense industry cooperation. H.E. Jonas Hafström, Ambassador of Sweden to the U.S., expressed his congratulations and conveyed a personal greeting from Ambassador Wilhelm Wachtmeister.
Please click here to read about General Sven-Olof Hökborg’s accomplishments and the history of the Wilhelm Wachtmeister Award.
Please click here to view photos from the event.
Holiday Event 2009
SACC DC in conjunction with the Federal Communications Bar Association (FCBA) and Ericsson held a reception celebrating the Swedish EU Presidency at House of Sweden. About 170 guests came and enjoyed hot Glögg and a delicious Swedish holiday smorgasbord, as well as a traditional Swedish St. Lucia procession performing holiday songs. Click here to view photos from the event.
Remarks were given by U.S. Coordinator for International Communications and Information Policy; Ambassador Philip Verveer of the U.S. Department of State. Ambassador Verveer talked about:
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the extension and connectivity of communications
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infrastructure around the world
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the free flow of information over broadband and
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the preservation of the dynamism of the Internet.
SACC DC would like to give a warm thanks to Ericsson for its generous sponsorship and for helping to make the evening such a great success.
Swedish Embassy Open - Our Annual Golf Tournament
at Old Hickory Golf Club
In gorgeous sunny weather, 85 golfers gathered at Old Hickory Golf Club in Woodbridge, VA on October 8th to participate in the 21st Annual Swedish Embassy Open (SEO) golf tournament. Main sponsor Nammo AS brought home the first prize followed by hole sponsor Swedish School team. Ms. Dana Martens, Sales Director at Martens Volvo was present and offered a hole-in-one Volvo car, that added excitement to the tournament but unfortunately was not won by anybody.
In the evening participants gathered at Ambassador Hafström's residence to celebrate the successful tournament as well as the 60th birthday of Edgar Fossheim, President and CEO of Nammo AS.
CLICK HERE FOR RESULTS AND PHOTOS!
Platinum Sponsor 2009:
Focus: Swedish EU Presidency
On June 11th members of SACC Washington DC attended a seminar organized by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) and the Embassy of Sweden addressing the topic "How can the Swedish EU Presidency Strengthen Transatlantic Cooperation?" The audience heard from Swedish Deputy Foreign Minister, Frank Belfrage, and Swedish Deputy Minister for Environment, Åsa-Britt Karlsson, who both discussed the priorities for the upcoming Swedish EU presidency, which begins on 1st July and lasts until the end of December. Particular attention was given to the global economic crisis and re-stabilizing global capital markets, EU enlargement and relations with neighboring countries, as well as United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen in December and the urgency to create a successful Copenhagen agreement to prevent global warming and climate changes. All of which depends on strong and cooperative US-EU partnership leading the way.
Read more about the Swedish EU Presidency here.
Nordic Baltic Networking Lunch
On June 2nd a crowd of over 50 guests representing all Nordic Chambers and also the Latvian Chamber of Commerce in Washington DC, gathered for lunch and to listen to speaker Kevin Matthews from National Strategies, Inc. Mr. Matthews addressed the topic “After the Stimulus: Green Business Opportunities in the Energy and Environment Sector.” His presentation demystifies the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act legislation, highlighting key areas for green business development, and introducing business strategies with state and local governments, prime recipients of the stimulus funding. Click here to download the presentation.
Breakfast Briefing with Minister for Employment Sven Otto Littorin
An informative and interesting breakfast roundtable was held on May 27 with Minister Littorin who briefed about 20 guests about the current Swedish employment situation and its development in light of the current economic crisis.
Breakfast Briefing with Ambassador Jonas Hafström re Swedish EU Priorities
On Thursday May 14 at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce an Exclusive Event For Corporate Members only was held: An insider's Breakfast Briefing by Ambassador Jonas Hafström who discussed the upcoming Swedish EU Presidency set to begin on July 1, 2009. This premium event was co-organized with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
Forum of the The Network of DC Youth Organizations (NDCYO)
On May 14 the First Forum of the The Network of DC Youth Organizations (NDCYO) was held at the the World Bank Group Headquarters. Approximately 50 young professionals from 15 local organizations in the area gathered for an interesting and fun evening with speaker Sam Schwartz. Click here for more info.
Homeland Security Briefing
On May 6 Embassy DHS Liaison officer Michael Mohr and Advider Jesper Grönvall briefed SACC-DC members about Sweden's work with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and gave an update on activities within the Bilateral Agreement on Cooperation in Science and Technology for Homeland Security Matters, as well as the upcoming DHS Stakeholders Conference in Washington, DC in May.
E-Days Savannah 2009
Click here to read about the latest Swedish-American Entrepreneurial Days that took place in Savannah on April 20-22, 2009.
Breakfast Roundtable with Minister for Trade
An exclusive breakfast roundtable was held for the SACC-DC Corporate Members on March 26 where they got the opportunity to hold an informal discussion with Dr. Ewa Björling, Swedish Minister for Trade, and her team from the Ministry for Foreign Affairs. Close to all corporate member companies were represented at the meeting and discussions dealt with a variety of areas such as the importance of open markets, intellectual property and illegal filesharing, progress in the Doha Round, expected future trade policies and the Minister's impressions of the new administration.
Author Evening with Linda Olsson
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SWEA DC and SACC-DC co-organized an author evening with best-selling Swedish author Linda Olsson on April 2nd, 2009. The evening started with a tour of the exhibition "Living Green" by Mats Widbom, Cultural Counselor at the Embassy and continued in the "IKEA Apartment" at House of Sweden. Fifty guests attended the event. Linda Olsson was in the U.S. to promote the American edition of her latest novel "Sonata for Miriam". Ms. Olsson spoke about her life as a Swede living abroad and shared her experiences ofe. writing and more. Visit Linda Olsson's website here.
Wilhelm Wachtmeister Award
Hon. Michael Wood, Chairman Sven-Olof Hökborg and Ambassador Jonas Hafström
At a ceremony at the House of Sweden on February 6, Michael M. Wood received the Wilhelm Wachtmeister award by Sven-Olof Hökborg, chairman in the Swedish-American Chamber of Commerce in Washington, DC (SACC-DC). Wood was celebrated for his exceptional contributions to further promote Swedish-American trade relations within alternative energy techniques through his program The One Big Thing.
Michael M. Wood served as the U.S. ambassador to Sweden from June 2006 to January 2009. During his tenure, Wood developed relationships with innovative Swedish green-tech companies that could be successful within the American market. To this date, The One Big Thing has resulted in an estimated $150-200 million dollars of business activity on both sides of the Atlantic
The Wilhelm Wachtmeister award was established by SACC-DC in connection with Wilhelm and Ulla Wachtmeister's return to Sweden in 2001. The award celebrates the Wachtmeisters' immense efforts to further promote the relations between the U.S. and Sweden within trade, as well as art and politics.
Michael M. Wood received this distinguished award in the presence of about 170 invited guests. The award was an Orrefors crystal plate with engraved text, designed by Ingegerd Råman. Wood's family was present at the ceremony, as well as ambassador Jonas Hafström, who read a personal greeting from Wilhelm Wachtmeister to the prizewinner.
The reception was graciously sponsored by:
