Swedish inventors to visit Northwest Arkansas

Fayetteville Economic Development Council

Press Release

8 AM -- May 15, 2008

The Fayetteville Economic Development Council (FEDC) and the Fayetteville Chamber of Commerce (FCC) have entered into a contract with Per-Erik Persson from Sodertalje, Sweden to help facilitate the opportunity for Swedish companies to enter the US market. Per-Erik has had extensive contacts with Swedish inventors over the past 15 years. Four Swedish companies are scheduled to visit Fayetteville.

Per-Erik Persson, who will be in Fayetteville for these visits, stated, "Sweden is one of the leading producers of clean technologies. But the Swedish market, with nine million people only, is always too small for these innovative companies. Thanks to the unique partnership with Fayetteville and Northwest Arkansas, they can now reach the entire U.S. market. This is a win-win for everyone. In the future, I see an international center, a global hub, in Fayetteville and Northwest Arkansas for green technologies - technologies that the world needs for survival.”

The Swedish collaboration started taking shape last November as result of an article in a local magazine highlighting Mayor Dan Coody’s passion for building a sustainable city. Per-Erik Persson, staying in a hotel in Rogers, read the article and wrote a letter to the Mayor outlining his belief that Fayetteville and NWA could become the next “Cleantech Valley.” This of course paralleled the area’s vision for Green Valley so forces were joined. See http://www.greenvalleynetwork.org/

Mayor Dan Coody said, “This demonstrates that Fayetteville’s leadership in implementing sustainable practices is attracting worldwide attention. We are building a ‘new economy’ business cluster focused on sustainability which will further enhance our exceptional quality of life as well as help preserve our future.”

This weekend, Swedish inventor and builder Ake Mard will arrive in Fayetteville seeking local business partners to produce and market his product in the US market. He has a worldwide patent for a modular building concept called the "Koljern" technique. Foamglass, made from recycled glass and coal, is used as the foundation, structural material, and insulation to create a very energy efficient structure. Discover more at http://www.koljern.se/enindex.php .Three other Swedish companies are scheduled over the next 45 days as the result of some interesting partnerships designed to give Arkansas an opportunity to benefit from Swedish businesses hoping to tap into the US market. Of particular interest are proven sustainable technologies that will help build a business cluster (Green Valley) centered on sustainability -- the next disruptive technology.

Lennart Stridsberg, one of Sweden’s top inventors, is tentatively scheduled to arrive May 27^th.

Mr. Stridsberg owns Stridsberg Powertrain AB and has designed an automobile hybrid drive train system which could yield gas mileage of 101 mpg in the city and 82 mpg on the highway in a car with the weight and characteristics of a Prius. Discover more at http://www.powertrain.se/1.html

Adam Lindahl currently has his company, Demolition and Asbestos Removal, Inc. in California. He will arrive June 2^nd and will be exploring opportunities to move his highly sophisticated, state-of-the-art operation to AR.

Tommy Lindvall, Peg Lindvall and Anders Gahne from Moving Floor AB/Gotlands El & Automation AB arrive Monday June 9. Go here for information on their product. http://www.movingfloor.se/e-index.html Anders Gahne is also the owner of one of Sweden’s largest wind farms. He is a recognized wind power expert and lecturer in Sweden. Mr. Gahne would like to meet with wind power experts in AR and surrounding states to exchange ideas and technology.

FEDC joined the Swedish American Chamber of Commerce- South Central US. Steve Rust, President and CEO of FEDC was selected to serve on the 5-state Executive Board of SACC-SCUS. Dan Hendrix, President of the World Trade Center, and Carol Williams from Little Rock also serve on this board. See http://www.sacc-scus.org/ .

Steve Vassallo, President of SACC-SCUS said, “Northwest Arkansas has now taken a leading position in the United States in the development and procurement of green technologies and sustainable products. By forming a partnership with our historical ally, Sweden, Northwest Arkansas has made a decisive strategic initiative and has moved well beyond the discussion stage."

Bill Ramsey, President and CEO of the Fayetteville Chamber of Commerce indicated, “I’m excited about bringing new opportunities to Fayetteville, NWA and the State. I would like to see Fayetteville become Sweden’s gateway to the US Market. They will be welcomed in Fayetteville!”

Phil Stafford, President of the University of AR Technology Development Foundation said, “We look forward to the opportunity to work with the Swedish companies and establish lasting partnerships that add value to their business enterprise. This also offers an opportunity to add an international dimension to the Arkansas Research and Technology Park and may broaden the markets that our corporate partners serve.”

Steve Rust, President and CEO of FEDC and a Green Valley Network director stated, “Sweden is a great country with innovative people that can benefit from the current exchange rate, NWA’s competitive cost of doing business, our central location to the US market, the UA, and our unique economic eco-system endowed with a concentration of retail and logistics expertise. We benefit from the fact that in many cases Swedish clean technologies are many years ahead of ours. Having Sweden as a partner demonstrates that the Green Valley Network is a global concept --Connecting Sustainability’s Innovators.”

Dan Sanker, President and CEO of CaseStack and Founder of the Green Valley Network had this to say, “The Swedish connection marks a first step in a long journey for people to use Green Valley Network as a tool to bring, ideas, academics, government, non-government organizations (NGOs), inventors, new companies, and investors to a meeting place that facilitates the rapid adoption of sustainable business practices around the world. We believe this is the quickest path to a better world.”

Contact: Steven K. Rust steve@fayetteville.com (479) 442-8885 and Steve Vassallo (601) 594-1919