Swedish-American Entrepreneurial Days :: Lidköping :: August 21-23 :: 2006
HomeUsing This WebsiteRegisterContact Us
Speakers


Quick links:

Albert Angehrn
Marita Bengtsson
Göte Bernhardsson
David Bohigian
Ronald J. Bushur
Jan Byström
Niclas Davidsson
Janyce Fadden
Anders Fagerstrom
Sanjay Goel
Elna Gustavsson
Bengt Göransson
Gordon D. Goranson
Ola Göransson
Bonnie L. Herron
Torsten Jansson
Lars E Johansson
Nils Johansson
Ellen Levy
Jan H. Lindelow
Gunnar Lund
Urban Lundberg
Lawrence J. Morrissey
Gunnar Nilsson
Lyndon Olson
Brooks Patterson
Ulla Renström
Pia Sjölin
Sven-Eric Söder
Michael Treschow
Inge G. Thulin
Bertil Törsäter
Göran Värmby
Annika Wijkström
Michael M. Wood




Albert Angehrn
Professor of Information Technology and Entrepreneurship
Director, Centre for Advanced Learning Technologies

Professor Angehrn's research activities concentrate on the impact of information and communication technologies and networks on learning, change and collaboration processes within and across organizations, and on the design of innovative solutions to management learning, including the design of advanced simulations, intelligent agents and virtual learning spaces.
His research work has received different international awards, and his publications can be found in academic journals such as Communications of the ACM, Journal of Management Information Systems, European Management Journal, Interfaces, Interacting with Computers, Information Systems Management, Human Systems Management, Decision Support Systems, European Journal of Operations Research and others, including articles in the Financial Times and the Wall Street Journal. He has also contributed with chapters of several books.
Teaching-wise, Professor Angehrn has directed the INSEAD Executive Programmes "Competing in the Information Age" and "Leadership in the Knowledge Society (LinKS)", has offered MBA courses such as "Organizational Computing" and "CyberEntrepreneurship" and Workshops such as the one organized by the European Roundtable (ERT) on the subject "Are European managers ready for leadership in the Information Society" or one on "Value Creation with Communities of Practice (CoP Workshop)".
In the frame of INSEAD's Centre for Advanced Learning Technologies (CALT), Albert has designed a variety of Multimedia- and Internet-based management learning and development tools, including the EIS Simulation, which has been adopted by top management schools such as Stanford, MIT, Duke or Columbia University; or the LingHe Simulation, which makes managers experience the challenge of interacting and driving change in a Chinese organization.
Working together with great academic and industry partners - organizations involved in research projects include for instance IKEA from Sweden, American companies such as IBM, HP or Pfizer, SAP or BMW from Germany, the FIAT Group or Unicredit from Italy, or the French Eutelsat, the Scottish Government, the Danish Finance Ministry, or the Swedish Trade Council - in the context of research projects sponsored by the European Space Agency or by the European Community Research Funds, Albert explores new, effective ways to model and improve learning, change and collaboration processes at the individual, group, organizational, inter-organizational or community level.

top

Marita Bengtsson
Chairman Local Council, City of Lidköping

Mrs. Marita Bengtsson is the elected chairman of the Local Council in the City of Lidköping, Sweden. Her political career as a social democrat started in the early seventies at Tibro local authority where she was a counsellor. In 1975 she and her family moved to Lidköping and since the election in 1976 she has held different political tasks within the local authority in the City of Lidköping.

In 1982 she was elected Chairman of the Social Service Committee, a position she held for 15 years, when she declined a re-election. Since 1994 she has been the First Vice Chairman of the Executive Committee and the Chairman of the Local Council in the City of Lidköping and also the Chairman of the Local Authority Housing Corporation.

Since her commission of trust has never been on full-time basis she has simultaneously, for 28 years, worked at the CSN, a government authority dealing with student allowances. For 14 of these years she has been a director.

top


Göte Bernhardsson
Governor, County of Västra Götaland

Mr Berhardsson has been County Governor in Västra Götalands län since 1998. Prior to this he has worked as general director for AMS, and as county director for Malmöhus län och Gävleborgs län. Between the years 1974-1979 he was a Secretary at the occupations committee. He was the main Secretary at the Committee for the Review of the Labour Market between 1972-1974. Göte Bernhardsson was Department Director between 1971 and 1972 at Statistics Sweden. He was a representative of TCO, dealing with information- and educational questions between 1967 and 1971.

Mr Bernhardsson has an education within the fields of statistics, political science and sociology from Lund University.

top



David Bohigian
Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Market Access
and Compliance


David S. Bohigian was sworn in as Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Market Access and Compliance in December 2005.
Prior to his appointment, Mr. Bohigian served as Director of the Office of Policy and Strategic Planning at the U.S. Department of Commerce. He led several initiatives for the Department including furthering the National Energy Policy, opening markets for U.S. goods and services, and producing the Manufacturing in America report.

Before joining the Commerce Department, Mr. Bohigian served as a Managing Director of Idealab. He served in several management positions with Idealab, for various portfolio companies including Chief Executive Officer of Ice Jewelry. Mr. Bohigian joined Idealab after it acquired the company he founded VenCatalyst. Prior to funding VenCatalyst, Mr. Bohigian was partner at Jefferson Partners, a venture capital firm.

Mr. Bohigian received his J.D from Washington University and his B.A. from Washington & Lee University.

top



Ronald J. Buschur
President of Powerwave Technologies, Inc

Ronald J. Buschur, 42, joined the Powerwave Technologies, Inc. in June 2001 as Chief Operating Officer. In May 2004, Mr. Buschur became President of the Company and in February 2005, Mr. Buschur became Chief Executive Officer and a member of the Board of Directors. Prior to joining the Company, Mr. Buschur held various positions at HMT Technology/Komag, an independent supplier of thin-film disks, including President and Chief Operating Officer from 1999 to 2000, Vice President of Sales, Marketing and Quality Assurance from 1997 to 1999 and Vice President of Quality Assurance from 1994 to 1997.

top

Jan Byström
Partner, Lawfirm Vinge, Stockholm

Mr. Byström has practiced law in New York and Stockholm for 15 years and is a member of both the New York State Bar and the Swedish Bar Association. He focuses his practice at Vinge on mergers and acquisitions, private equity transactions and venture capital financing. Mr. Byström regularly represents U.S. venture funds investing in Sweden and Swedish entrepreneurs and companies raising venture capital in Sweden and the United States.

Prior to re-joining Vinge in 2004, Mr. Byström spent five years with Davis Polk & Wardwell and two years with Hunton & Williams, both U.S. law firms in New York.

top



Niclas Davidsson
Patent Attorney, Awapatent

Niclas Davidsson is a Patent Attorney and has been with Awapatent since 2002. He has been involved in drafting and prosecuting patent applications in various fields of technology, including automotive safety- and electronics, computer modeling and manufacturing
equipment. Mr Davidsson has a special interest in the business aspects of intellectual property and has been responsible for the business development of Awapatents services towards the
financial sector, e.g. IPR due diligence- and competitor analysis projects. He has also held numerous lectures at international conferences on the topic of risk analysis and IPR due
diligence.

Since april 2005, Mr Davidsson has had a shared responsibility for the overall sales and business development at Awapatent. In this role he regularly discuss development of IPR activity with company managements in Sweden and abroad. Prior to joining Awapatent, Mr Davidsson worked at Accenture as a management consultant,
mainly involved in strategy projects for large clients in the automotive sector, focusing on sales issues.

Mr Davidsson earned his Master’s Degree in Industrial Engineering and Management from Chalmers University of Technology in Göteborg 2000. He has also attended courses within the area of business of intellectual property. He is fluent in English, and does also speak German and Spanish.

top




Janyce Fadden
President of the Rockford Area Economic Development Council

Fadden, who earned her MBA at NIU in 1984, has been a longtime leader in the Rockford business community, serving at various times as president, vice president and general manager for firms such as Honeywell, General Signal, Applied Power, Pacific Scientific, and Danaher. She assumed her current post, leading the Rockford Area Economic Development Council, in June of 2004, directing the organizations efforts aimed at business retention, expansion and recruitment.

top



Anders Fagerstrom
Director of the Office for Defense Trade and Industry Cooperation, Embassy of Sweden

Following graduation from the Technical Branch of the Swedish National Defense College in 1979, Anders began a career within the defense industry. Over the years he has held many positions, the most recent of which was with Ericsson Microwave Systems AB, as the Director of Business Development, European Cooperation. During this time he also served as the Swedish Defense Industry point of contact to the working group "Harmonization of Military Requirements" under the European LOI Framework Agreement on Armaments Cooperation.

Anders Fagerström is an associate member of the Council of Studies to SERA (the Session European des Responsible d´Armement, CHEAR,) in Paris.

top

Sanjay Goel, Ph.D.
Professor, Strategic Management, University of Duluth, Minnesota

Mr. Goel has a Ph.D., is a professor of strategic management and entrepreneurship at University of Minnesota at Duluth, Minnesota, as well as Blekinge Tekniska Högskola in Ronneby, Sweden. His area of expertise is managerial issues in governance with a special focus on start-ups and technology intensive contexts. His research network spans most countries of Western Europe , USA , as well as New Zealand and Australia . He also serves and consults with non-profi t and for-profi t boards and private equity fi rms in USA and Europe . He teaches and designs courses in Strategic Management, Management of Innovation and Technology, Entrepreneurship, and International Management. He is the Vice-Chair of Swedish-American Chamber of Commerce - Minnesota ; an organization dedicated to increasing trade and economic ties between USA and Sweden.

top


Elna Gustavsson
President, Swesco Sweden


Mrs. Elna Gustavsson is an entrepreneurial minded company founder with experience from multiple industrial sectors and countries. Since 2002, Mrs. Gustavsson is the President and Founder of Swesco Sweden AB, an international corporation dealing in composite armor. In addition, Mrs. Gustavsson is Vice President and Chairman of the Board of LISCO Sweden AB, a company within the light weight structural composites line of business since 1999 and Member of the board of US Defence Composites since 2004. She has also experience from the automotive sector as serving as Vice president and CFO for Swedish Advanced Automotive Business AB, Sweden from 2004 and the President and Member of the board of Swedish Advanced Automotive Business US from 2006.

Mrs. Gustavsson graduated from University of Gothenburg, Sweden in 1973 with a bachelor's degree in accounting, auditing and marketing. She started her career at the Swedish Tax authority as main educator in taxation law and auditing between 1973-75. Mrs. Gustavsson then joined Bofors Defence AB from 1975 to 1996 where she worked with procurement of hydraulics, transmission and mechanical equipment for guns and vehicles and later on with marketing of Defence Systems. Besides for Swedish, English and German, she is a fluent Estonian speaker and from 1996 to 1999, Mrs. Gustavsson worked for Gemala Batteries, Indonesia and Autoveod Technica, Estonia with procurement issues and marketing for Eastern Europe.

top



Bengt Göransson
TV-radio commentator Wall Street, columnist, author, moderator

School of Journalism, University of Gothenburg 1968-70
News Anchor, Swedish TV 1970-73, SVT-correspondent for Eastern Europe 1973-80, SVT-correspondent West-Germany 1980-83, foreign commentator for SVT, Stockholm, 1983-86, journalist at Master Communication Group, Minneapolis, MN, 1986-90, Principal owner of DSN Communications, Inc, 1990-

Books: The Communist Pope (Foreign Policy Association), Our Voice - Young Swedes About The Future (Liber), Germany (Esselte), USA (Esselte), The New Information Society (Almqvist & Wiksell)

top


Gordon D. Goranson
President LMC Inc., IL

Gordon Goranson joined LMC, Inc., DeKalb, IL (USA) in 1998 as President and Chief Operation Officer. LMC is the world's foremost authority for "adiabatic processing" to the metalworking industry. This patented high velocity impact technology has been commercialized by LMC for the cutting, blanking, net shape forming and powder compaction with virtually any metal. This energy efficient and environmentally friendly process allows manufacturers to significantly reduce process costs with improved quality. LMC opened its subsidiary, LMC AB, on February 1, 2003 in Lidkoping Sweden as its headquarters for their operations in the European Union. Mr. Goranson was born in Chicago, Illinois and graduated from the University of Illinois in Champaign/Urbana with a degree in Economics. He then graduated from Northwestern University's Kellogg School with his MBA degree. He received the rank of Captain in the Army Branch of the US Military. Mr. Goranson has been Vice President of Commercial Banking with the LaSalle/ABN Bank in Chicago; President of WICO Corporation (an international manufacturing and distribution company); and President of AKH Inc ( a national manufacture of press systems and fasteners for that industry). He has been on numerous Boards of Directors. Mr. Goranson is currently on the Board of Directors of SACC USA and SACC Chicago. He has previously served as both President and Chairman of SACC Chicago and Vice Chairman of SACC USA. Mr. Goranson is married to Eva Bolinder (Ostersund, Sweden) and they have two children and two grandchildren.

top



Ola Göransson
Consultant at Miljopunkten

Mr. Göransson is an experienced consultant specialized in business development, purchase and corporate governance. He has previously worked many years as an executive purchaser for AGA Gas. Mr. Göransson is a specialist within quality, environment, IT and business. He is an expert on ISO9001 and ISO14001.


top



Bonnie L. Herron
Executive Director Gwinnett Innovation Park
Chief Financial Officer & Vice President of Intelligent
Systems Corporation.

Bonnie L. Herron is the founder and Executive Director of Gwinnet Innovation Park. In April 2005 Ms. Herron was named "Woman of the Year in Technology" for businesses under $500 million by the Woman in Technology Association in the State of Georgia, U.S. in recognition of her many years of leadership in and contribution to the technology industry and its entrepreneurs.

Ms. Herron is past Chair and a two-term board member of the National Business Incubation Association. She is on the board of directors of the Atlanta Venture Forum and several of ISC's portfolios. Ms. Herron has served on numerous boards such as the Technology Association of Georgia and the Advisory Council of the State of Georgia's Intellectual Capital Partnership Program. She was the founder and co-chair of the Entrepreneurial Forum SIG and the Growth Capital SIG, both special interest groups of the Technology Association of Georgia. Ms. Herron is also Chief Financial Officer and Vice President of Intelligent Systems Corporation. ISC is the sponsor of the Gwinnett Innovation Park incubator.

Ms. Herron received an M.B.A. from Mercer University, Atlanta as well as B.A and B.P.H.E. degrees from the University of Toronto, Canada.

top



Torsten Jansson
CEO&Founder& main owner of New Wave Group

Born: 1962, CEO&Founder& main owner of New Wave Group
and Chairman in JC AB and main owner also in JC AB together with a partner.

top



Lars E. Johansson
Of Counsel, San Francisco

Mr. Johansson practices in Sonnenschein's Corporate Practice Group and works on a variety of corporate matters, with a concentration on debt and equity finance, mergers and acquisitions. Mr. Johansson represents companies and investors in a variety of securities offerings and target companies in domestic and foreign mergers and acquisitions.

Prior to joining Sonnenschein, Mr. Johansson was with the law firm of Coudert Brothers LLP in San Francisco, California.


top

Nils Johansson
Senior Advisor, Defense Industry Cooperation with the Swedish Trade Council at the Embassy of Sweden in Washington, D.C.

During the past eight years in this position, Mr. Johansson has assisted Swedish defense contactors with business development with the U.S. market. The main focus of his work has been to provide support to traditional Swedish defense contractors such as Saab, Ericsson and BAE Systems Bofors. In addition, small and medium sized Swedish companies have benefited from his consulting services.

Prior to his current position, Mr. Johansson worked with software implementation at U.S. manufacturing businesses for the Baan Company.

After graduating from the University of Lund in Sweden with a Masters Degree in Chemical Engineering in 1986, Mr. Johansson worked for five years in sales and project management in the chemical and environmental field.

In 1991, he began his first assignment at the Embassy of Sweden in Washington, D.C. as Assistant Attaché for Science and Technology, focusing on U.S. environmental technology and policy issues. Mr. Johansson also holds an MBA from George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia - Go Patriots!

 top



Ellen Levy
Network Advisor at Draper Fisher Jurvetson

In addition to being a Network Advisor at Draper Fisher Jurvetson,
Ellen Levy also serves as the Director of Industry Collaboration & Research for Stanford University's Media X, a program which connects industry interest with research, having to do with the future of technology and how it is used, taking place within the University. Previously, she was a venture capitalist, both as Managing Director at NeoCarta Ventures and at Softbank VentureCapital. Dr. Levy has worked in executive management level positions in a number of technology companies. She has also worked for the Harvard School of Public Health, planning the VIIIth International Conference on AIDS.

Dr.Levy received her B.S. from the University of Michigan and Ph.D from Stanford University in Cognitive Psychology. She currently serves on Boards of The Mind Institute and Child Family Health International, and is Charter Member of the Indus Entrepreneur Organization in Silicon Valley. Additionally, she works with several Silicon Valley-based start ups as an Advisory Board Member. In 2004, Dr. Levy was selected as a White House Fellow Program Regional Finalist.

top



Jan H. Lindelow
Chairman of the Board- SACC USA

Jan Lindelow is an active board member of several promising enterprises, primarily in the high technology industry. Recently retired from IBM, Lindelow has extensive experience managing global multi-billion dollar businesses as well as smaller, entrepreneurial companies. Lindelow joined IBM/Tivoli in June 1997 and served as Chairman and CEO of Tivoli Systems Inc. until Spring of 2001. He then became Vice President, Emerging Business Development for IBM Corporation. Prior to joining IBM/Tivoli, he was President and COO of Symbol Technologies. He also served in several senior executive positions with Asea Brown Boveri (ABB). At Unisys/Sperry Computer Systems, Lindelow was President of Worldwide Sales and Services. Lindelow has an MS in engineering from the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, Sweden. He lives in Austin, Texas.

top


Gunnar Lund
Gunnar Lund - Ambassador of Sweden to the United States

Gunnar Lund was trained in economics, political science and Russian
at the universities of Uppsala and Stockholm. As a Fulbright scholar he studied at Columbia University in New York, from where he holds a Master's degree in Economics and International Law. In the seventies and eighties, he pursued a career as a civil servant in the Swedish Ministries of Finance and Foreign Affairs, and served for
several years as the Finance ministry's representative to the OECD in Paris. In 1988, Gunnar Lund was given his first political assignment when he was appointed Deputy Finance Minister (State Secretary) with responsibility for budget, economic policy and international affairs. After the election in 1991, Gunnar Lund worked in the Ministry for Foreign Affairs as Ambassador and negotiator on issues of defense and armaments as well as on Russian affairs. After the election in 1994, Gunnar Lund was appointed Deputy Foreign Minister (State Secretary) for European Affairs. In that capacity, he helped design Sweden's policy during its first years in the European Union and served as his country's chief negotiator for the Amsterdam and Nice treaties. In 1999, Gunnar Lund was named Sweden's Ambassador to the European Union. He returned to Sweden in 2002 when he was appointed Minister and Member of the Swedish Cabinet with responsibility for international economic and financial affairs as well as for public administration. Gunnar Lund is fifty-eight years old and is married to Kari Lotsberg,
a financial consultant and former Deputy Minister. They have three children.

top



Urban Lundberg
President, US Defense Services Inc.

After Mr. Lundberg graduated in 1972, he started working as a mechanical engineer for the Swedish Defence. He was first stationed by the army in Enköping and later in Stockholm to work for the Airforce. After working, he went back to school and got a Master's in mechanical engineering from the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm. He was then promoted and became the director for the largest developmental project ever within Swedish Defense, Bv 206. In 1983, he moved to the US to lead a similar project within US Defense for Hägglunds & Söner. During these years, the company expanded and grew to twice the size. By advice from the US Government, he today works for his own company, US Defense Services, Inc, that also represent Hägglunds Inc. on the American market. The company specializes in handling relations with the US Government and assist companies with unique products that wants to supply the US Army. USDS also assist other companies on the American market, such as FBM Babcock Marine, UNITEAM, CovMed and SWESCO.

top



Lawrence J. Morrissey
Mayor of Rockford City

Lawrence J. Morrissey was elected Mayor of Rockford on April 5, 2005 at the age of 35. Morrissey's course to the Mayor's office followed an unconventional path. He ran and was elected as an independent candidate. Morrissey held no political office prior to the Mayor's office, but he had been active in numerous grass-roots organizations and neighborhood groups. He went on to graduate from the University of Notre Dame, Magna Cum Laude, in 1991, and he received his law degree Cum Laude from the University of Illinois in 1995. Morrissey began his legal career in Chicago where he practiced civil litigation. He returned to Rockford in the summer of 1997 to practice in the family firm, Morrissey Law Offices. Shortly after returning to Rockford, Mayor Morrissey became involved in numerous community activities. He was president of the Downtown River District organization and a member of the Southwest Rockford neighborhood group, SWIFTT. Mayor Morrissey also was a charter member of a grass-roots transportation advocacy group, the Greater Rockford Transportation Coalition, where he has advocated for smart-growth transportation solutions including bringing passenger rail service back to Rockford. Morrissey was also a past board member of the Rockford Area Chamber of Commerce, the Rockford Area Convention and Visitor's Bureau, and the Goodwill Industries/Abilities Center. Mayor Morrissey was also appointed as a founding member of the Winnebago County Crime and Public Safety Commission. Prior to becoming Mayor, Morrissey's professional career involved practicing law in the area of civil litigation and leading his family's urban real estate development efforts. He is professionally licensed to practice law in both State and Federal courts in the State of Illinois and he has been a member of the American Bar Association, Illinois Bar Association, Congress for the New Urbanism, the International Council of Shopping Centers, and the Midwest High Speed Rail Coalition.

top

Gunnar Nilsson
President, Automation Technology Cluster of West Sweden

Mr. Gunnar Nilsson is President of the ATC cluster. He has a long international experience from the mechanical, plastic, retail and telecom industries and has held leading positions in both American and Swedish companies. Mr. Nilsson holds an Executive MBA from Copenhagen Business School.
top


Lyndon L. Olson
Former Ambassador of the United States to Sweden

Lyndon L. Olson, Jr. was nominated by President Clinton on October 6, 1997, to be Ambassador to Sweden. He was confirmed by the Senate on November 6, 1997 and sworn in to the office on January 12, 1998.

Ambassador Olson previously served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Travelers Insurance Holdings, Inc., and the Associated Madison Companies, Inc. in New York City. He has served as the President of the National Group Corporation, and has also been President and Chief Executive Officer of the National Group Insurance Company. In addition, he is a cattle rancher and banker.

Ambassador Olson was Chairman of the Texas State Board of Insurance from 1979 until August 1987. He also served as President of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners in 1982.

Ambassador Olson was appointed to the negotiating team on international reinsurance issues at the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development in Geneva, Switzerland, in 1987, and lectured to ASEAN nations in 1985 and 1989 at the United Nations Conferences on Trade and Development, Program of Insurance, in Manila. He was one of the negotiators for the United States-Israeli Free Trade Agreement relating to services between the two nations. He led a Trade Delegation on Financial Services to Russia and China 1985.

Ambassador Olson served as a member of the Texas State House of Representatives from 1973 until 1978.

Ambassador Olson has been the recipient of many honors and awards including the Distinguished Alumni Award from Baylor University in 1999, Distinguished Alumni Award/Waco Public Schools 1998 and Gates of Jerusalem Award presented by the State of Israel. He has also been named "Outstanding Public Official" by the Texas Municipal League and "Distinguished Public Official" by the Texas Medical Association. He was named one of Five Outstanding Young Texans by the Texas Jaycees in 1978. Olson is an Honorary Lifetime Member of the Downtown Waco Rotary Club, Waco, Texas.

Ambassador Olson has served as the chairman of the following organizations: the Mental Health Association of Texas, the Texas Taxpayers and Research Assn., the Texas Lyceum Assn., the Waco Chamber of Commerce, the Association of Fire & Casualty Companies of Texas, Texas Opera Theater, the Texas Arts Alliance; and has served on the Executive Committee of the Houston Grand Opera and the Austin Lyric Opera, the Waco Symphony, the Austin Symphony and the Waco Art Center. He has been President of the Baylor University Alumni Assn., Honorary Co-chairman of the Fulbright Commission, and has served on the Board of Visitors of the Yale Music School and the Baylor University School of Music. He has also served on the Board of Visitors of the Baylor University School of Business, and is a member of The Council on Foreign Relations and The Philosophical Society of Texas. He serves on the Board of Trustees, Scottish Rite Hospital for Children, Dallas, Texas. He is a Scottish Rite Mason 32Ý KCCH, and is a member of the James A. Lockwood Lodge, Waco, Texas.

Ambassador Olson also served on the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Institute for Social and Economic Policy in the Middle East, International Board of Advisors. Lyndon L. Olson, Jr. is a graduate of Baylor University and attended Baylor Law School.

He is an Elder in the Central Presbyterian Church of Waco, Texas.

top




Brooks Patterson
Chief Executive Officer Oakland County

Mr. Patterson serves As the Chief Executive Officer of one of America's wealthiest and most successful counties where he oversees a workforce of 4,400 employees and controls an annual budget of more than a half billion dollars. Patterson attended the University of Detroit and the University of Detroit Law School, where he received his Juris Doctorate in 1967.. In 1968, Patterson was hired as an Assistant Oakland County Prosecutor. Prior to leaving that post in 1971, he had the distinction of becoming the first Senior Trial Lawyer in the Prosecutor's Office. Elected Oakland County Prosecutor (1972). Over the next 16 years as the crime victim's attorney, Patterson compiled an enviable record that included a successful campaign to reform the parole system, end plea-bargaining, and vigorously prosecute habitual criminals. In 1974, he successfully argued a case before the United States Supreme Court (Michigan v. Tucker). During his brief hiatus from public service, Patterson entered private law practice. In 1990, Lawyers Weekly selected him as one of the top 20 attorneys in the state of Michigan.

top


Ulla Renström
Manager of European Information Centre East and Central Sweden, hosted by Almi Business Partner Örebro AB

Ulla Renström is senior business consultant to small and medium sized enterprises, SME, going international. After a Bachelor of Arts from Uppsala University in 1972 her occupation has been in private companies, in the graphical and mechanical industries, that are growing on the export market. Since the early 1990s she has been engaged in European matters related to SME and also a manager of one of the eight Swedish Euro Info Centres.

Ulla Renström has also been a member of the European steering group for the European network, co-ordinator of the European working group on business cooperation and the organizer of several European projects with the aim to increase cross border trade.
She is also a member of the Board of one of the Swedish bank foundations.



top


Pia Sjölin
Owner, Pia Sjölin Design

Began her artistic career in 1971 at Orrefors Glass School in Sweden, as an engraver at Kosta Glass. Pia came to the United States in 1974 where she started her own glass studio. Her works are widely held in private collections as well as in museums. During the 1980's fibers and textiles became her focus for expression. The next stage was painting interiors. Today, her distinctive murals grace homes and businesses throughout the U.S. and Sweden. Now Pia has developed a concept that embraces all her experience and celebrates her love of both their home countries: America with its vibrancy and boldness, and Sweden with its Nordic light and long, proud, craft tradition. Today, the magical design traditions and natural environment of both these countries combine kaleidoscopically in Pia's unique glass and textile design.

top



Sven-Eric Söder
State Secretary to the Minister for Industry and Trade,
Thomas Östros

Sven-Eric Söder commenced his political undertakings in 1977 as a full time official. Between the years 1984-1988, he served as a youth secretary to the Swedish Trade Union Confederation. Mr. Söder spent the following three years at the Ministry of Defense, first as a political advisor and then as an information officer. He has five years of experience from working at the Olof Palme International Center. Mr. Söder has been serving as a State Secretary since 1997. Initially, he was responsible for Nordic co-operation, Baltic Sea region issues, development co-operation with Central and Eastern Europe and from the year of 2000 also for the promotion of exports and investments and internal market issues under the Ministry for Foreign Affairs. At present Mr. Söder is State Secretary for the Minister of Industry, Employment and Communications.

top



Michael Treschow
Chairman of the Board of Ericsson since March 2002

Michael Treschow was President and Chief Executive Officer of the Electrolux Group until April 2002, a position to which he was appointed in 1997. As of May 2004, Mr Treschow is Chairman of the Board of AB Electrolux.

Before joining Electrolux, Michael Treschow was President and Chief Executive Officer of Atlas Copco AB. He spent three years in the United States as Area Manager out of his 22 years with Atlas Copco. Mr Treschow also spent one year in France as responsible for the set- up of Bahco Ventilation’s operation in France.

For his excellent efforts in Swedish trade issues, Mr Treschow received in June 2000 the King's Medal of the Twelfth Dimension with the Ribbon of the Order of the Seraphims from His Majesty the King of Sweden. In May 2000, Mr Treschow was awarded the Spanish order "Insigna de Gran Cruz de la Orden del Mérito Civil" for strengthening the trade relations between Sweden and Spain. In September 2002, Mr Treschow was awarded the French order "Grade de Chevalier dans l'Ordre National de la Légion d'Honneur" for strengthening the trade relations between Sweden and France. In 2004 he was bestowed the title of Commandor of the Order of the Crown for strengthening the trade relations between Sweden and Belgium.

Educational background:
Mr. Treschow was born 1943 in Helsingborg, Sweden. He earned a Master of Science degree from the Institute of Technology in Lund, Sweden.

Other positions:
Chairman of the Board of the Confederation of Swedish Enterprise as of May 2004. Chairman of the Board of AB Electrolux as of April 2004. Board member of ABB Ltd. since 2003.

top

Inge G. Thulin
Executive Vice President, International Operations

Mr. Thulin joined 3M in 1979 and worked within sales and marketing. He advanced to Group Manager, Business Manager and European Business Unit Manager in 1995 Mr. Thulin became Managing Director for 3M in Russia. In 1997 he joined the Skin Health Division as a Business Unit Director, in 1998 he became Marketing Operations Director and one year later he was promoted to General Manager of the Skin Health Division and finally he became its Division Vice President. In 2002 Mr. Thulin became Vice President for Europe and the Middle East. Since 2003, he has held the position of Executive Vice President of International Operations. Mr. Thulin was born in Malmo, Sweden and received education at Gothenburg University/IHM Business School, Gothenburg, Sweden. Mr. Thulin holds an M.B.A. in Economics and Marketing.

top



Bertil Törsäter
Chief Executive, Regional Development, Region Västra Götaland

Bertil Törsäter is since the formation of Region Västra Götaland in 1999, the chief executive for regional development. That includes business development, infrastructure of roads and railroads, public transportation, RoD, tourism promotion, strategic planning and international relations and EU matters. He is also a board member in the following companies: Start Invest AB, Almi Företagspartner Väst AB, Sahlgrenska Science Park AB and Innovatum AB. His educational background is a Bachelor of Arts and Construction engineer.

top


Göran Värmby,
Project Director Business&Environment, Business Region Göteborg

Mr. Värmby is a project managing director and leader of Business and Environment Group at Business Region Göteborg (BRG), a regional municipality owned company with a turnover of about 15 Million US $ supporting industry and business development. The objective of the project is supporting sustainable growth among the environmental/energy technology companies.

Mr. Värmby has earlier been co-ordinator of the Environment Management of the City of Göteborg and before that during the 90´s owner and managing director of an environmental consultancy bureau. In the end of the 80´s he was General Secretary of the Environmental Project of Göteborg reporting to the Environmental Minister. The Minister recruited him from Greenpeace where he was one of the Campaigning leaders in Sweden (1986-87). Before that GV worked at different environmental agencies at local, regional and national levels. He was educated at Chalmers University of Technology in Göteborg as civil engineering (MSc) 1965-71.

top

Annika Wijkström
Executive Vice President, Föreningssparbanken AB (Swedbank)
in Stockholm, Sweden

Mrs. Wijkström is Executive Vice President of Föreningssparbanken since March 1999 and from the 1st of April 2003, head of Swedbank Markets. Prior to that she has held several leading positions in the bank; last head of International Banking. She is also a member of the Executive Board since 1999. Prior to joining Sparbankernas Bank and the Swedbank Group in 1986 Annika Wijkström, was Group Treasurer of Almiak AB.

In Sparbankernas Bank Mrs. Wijkström headed the business area of Cash Management before becoming Vice President and head of Trade Finance in 1992. After the savings bank merger in Sweden, she was appointed Senior Vice President and head of International in 1994. In 1999, and the next merger, she was appointed Executive Vice President for FöreningsSparbanken.

Annika Wijkström holds a degree of Bachelor of Arts from University of Umeå, 1973.

top


Michael M. Wood
U.S. Ambassador to Sweden

Mr Wood became U.S. Ambassador to Sweden on June 5, 2006.
Ambassador Wood is former CEO of Hanley Wood, LLC, a very important media company in the housing and construction industry. He formed Redwood Investments LLC, an investment company specializing in media and real estate, in October 2005,

Mr Wood is a former member of the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies. He has also served on the NAHB Long-Range Planning Committee. On June 16, 2005, Ambassador Wood received the Media Business magazine Top Executive of the Year Award.

top