Sweden’s ambassador to the United States, Jonas Hafström, is scheduled to speak in Savannah April 21 at Entrepreurial Days, billed by its promoters as the most important Swedish-American business networking and trade conference.
A former United States ambassador to Sweden, Michael Wood, is also among the scheduled speakers. Other speakers include Anders Beggren, CEO of Marmon Retail Services Inc., a Berkshire Hathaway company; Victor Ermoli, dean of the School of Design at the Savannah College of Art and Design; Pete Domini, a Swedish business developer for Stena Metal Group, the Nordic region’s largest recycling company; and Glen Lurie, president of national distribution for AT&T Wireless Inc.
Another former U.S. ambassador to Sweden, Thomas L. Seibert, is also expected to attend, Mee Ericksson, director of the conference, told GlobalAtlanta.
The eDays conference will be held April 20-22 at the Savannah Marriott Riverfront. It is organized by the Swedish-American Chambers of Commerce and will focus on the areas of logistics, renewable energy and industrial design. It is hosted annually during the spring in the U.S. followed by a similar event in Sweden in the fall.
“Sweden is a world leader in clean tech and can bring a great deal of expertise to the U.S.,” Viveka Wahlstedt, chairman of the Swedish American Chambers of Commerce, USA and managing partner of Carnegie Worldwide Inc., a management consulting firm, said in a news release.
The conference is expected to attract 350-400 participants, approximately 100 of those from Sweden, and 20 exhibitors, said Ms. Ericksson.
“The key value is the business matchmaking service,” she said. Companies from the U.S. and Sweden will be linked for meetings according to their business interests. The matchmaking service is included in the conference registration fee ($445 for chamber members, $499 for non members). Previous conferences have shown tangible results, with Swedish and American companies establishing long-term business relationships.
The conference will be particularly valuable given the worldwide efforts by governments to stimulate their economies and the push for ways to reduce carbon emissions, said Ms. Ericksson.
Among the companies planning to send representatives to the conference is Green Circle BioEnergy Inc, which opened a large wood pellet plant in Cottondale, Fla., in May 2008. The pellets are sold to utilities for power production.
An Atlanta-based company, Radiance Solar Inc., also plans to attend. It provides residential and commercial solar systems for producing electricity and hot water.
Range Fuels Inc. a Broomfield, CO., company that broke ground in 2007 on an ethanol plant in Treutlen County in Southeast Georgia will attend as will a wood pellet producer, Fulghum Graanul LLC, a joint venture between Fulghum Fibres Inc. of Augusta and AS Graanul Invest of Tallinn, Estonia.
Continental Biomass Industries Inc. a Newton, N.H., founded by Anders Ragnarsson of Sweden, plans to participate. It makes grinders and other equipment used for converting wood chips into biofuel.
For more information on eDays, click here.