As the Chairman of SACC-Atlanta, I want to let you know how much I am enjoying my role with this great organization this year.  We have a truly outstanding group of committed individuals who have worked tirelessly on behalf of SACC-Atlanta to bring our organization to a new level of recognition and acknowledgement both here in the U.S. as well as in Sweden.  I am proud of who we are and what we are accomplishing.  I am even more proud about where we are going.

The one repeated theme that I have heard from our numerous Swedish visitors to Georgia in various trade and “industry clusters” at different points this year is the level of warmth, professionalism, commitment and a “readiness to do business” here that they have not seen in many other places.  This is due not only to SACC-Atlanta’s membership and its group of talented staff, volunteers, and board members.  No, this is also due to the quality of the “allied” people and organizations that have linked their efforts with SACC-Atlanta at the state and local level.

There is ample proof of our newfound momentum.  I am pleased to announce that SACC-USA has selected Savannah, Georgia as the site for the April, 2009 national E-Days event.  With our counterparts and allies in various organizations, SACC-Atlanta will be able to put on an event that will play to Georgia’s significant economic and business strengths.  Likewise, we participated in the E-Days events in Chicago this April, and in Växjö and Malmö, Sweden, this August.  Attendance both here and abroad at the E-Days events were at all-time highs, and that is due to the critical role that the SACC organization is playing in the selection process for key decision makers in Sweden about their choice of business locations in the U.S., and vice-versa.

Another indication of our place in the Swedish business community is the announcement made by Delta Airlines on September 24, 2007 of direct flights between the gateway cities of Atlanta, Georgia and Stockholm, Sweden. This transportation connection has been a matter "near and dear" to the business community in Georgia (and the southeast) with business interests in Sweden, and many of SACC-Atlanta's members have been dreaming about such a prospect.  Now, that dream is being fulfilled.  As an additional benefit, these direct flights will now put Georgia squarely on the map for Swedish businesses looking to relocate or establish a foothold in the U.S.  We want to specially recognize Delta Airlines for its outstanding support of SACC-Atlanta’s efforts, and its partnership with SACC-Atlanta has kept increasing significantly over time.

From a personal viewpoint, this has been a meaningful year for my own Swedish connections.  I was able to travel to Sweden this summer with my wife Donna, my two young sons, my brother and my Swedish-born mother Lana (yes, she still has a Swedish passport and speaks with a Swedish accent even after having lived in the U.S. for more than 50 years!).  Though I have traveled to Sweden many times over the years, this was the first trip for my wife and children, and I was so glad that they could connect with my mother’s siblings and my own first cousins and their children (and grandchildren).