Reps from four Swedish companies prepare to tour Fayetteville
Posted on Thursday, May 15, 2008
Representatives of four Swedish companies are scheduled to visit Fayetteville in the next 45 days to look at the opportunity of expanding their businesses into the U. S. market.
One of the companies builds modular foam glass "hurricane-proof"homes; another makes a car that can hit 101 miles to the gallon in the city; a third markets moving floors equipment that automatically cleans animal bedding. The fourth company is described as a highly sophisticated demolition and asbestos removal company.
"We think there's a good opportunity for the Swedish companies to put their regional or national headquarters here and do business all over the United States," said Steve Rust, president and CEO of the Fayetteville Economic Development Council. "The bottom line is we're trying to create more jobs, fill the office space, fill the empty homes and add to our tax base."
The council and Fayetteville Chamber of Commerce contracted with Per-Erik Persson, liaison, Swedish-American Chamber of Commerce, Stockholm, to help facilitate Swedish companies entering the U. S. market.
"I would like to see Fayetteville become Sweden's gateway to the U. S. market," Bill Ramsey, chamber president and CEO, said in an economic development council press release.
"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," Persson is quoted as saying in the press release.
He said he sees a global hub in Fayetteville and Northwest Arkansas for "green"technologies. Green refers to the movement to reduce waste and help clean the planet.
Attempts to reach Persson, who lives in Sodertalje, Sweden, were unsuccessful due to time zone differences.
Rust said selling the Fayetteville-Sweden connection is not hard because Sweden is an environmentally conscious country.
"The people very much lean that direction, and we're getting to be known nationally and internationally as a green community, the Green Valley," he said. "I find if I can bring these companies to Fayetteville, then Fayetteville is very easy to sell. "Good for Fayetteville and Sweden Rust said the collaboration is good for Fayetteville. "The advantage to Fayetteville is we can bring in companies that advance the ball toward a more sustainable future with proven technology, not something just coming out of the lab that hasn't been proven," he said. He anticipates a higher probability of success for the companies because they have been up and running. Advantages exist for the Swedish companies, too, he said. "Because we're in the middle of the country, the cost of doing business here is roughly half of what it is in Sweden and considerably less than what it would be on the East or West Coast," Rust said. He said another advantage for the visitors is the money exchange rate. According to Exchange-Rates. org, 1 krona is currently worth about 0. 17 U. S. dollars. "If there was ever a very opportune time for Sweden to bring a company to the United States, it's now," he said. "The krona buys more dollars than it ever has in the past."
Green Valley "For the most part, we're attracted to them and they're attracted to us because it fits into the vision of Green Valley," Rust said. Green Valley describes the effort to identify Northwest Arkansas as a center of the sustainability, or "green," movement in the way Silicone Valley in California brings to mind high-tech activities. Swedish inventor and builder Ake Mard will be the first of the visitors. He and Persson will arrive Saturday to seek local business partners for Koljern system homes.
"We're introducing him to a number of local contractors and developers so they can see what this building product is all about and see if they'd be interested in building a house here or maybe forming some kind of partnership," Rust said.
The homes are built with foamglass, a material made of recycled glass and coal. It is used in the foundation, structural material and insulation to create an energyefficient home.
According to Persson, the material is durable, cannot be damaged by water or fluids, resists large winds and hurricanes, and is resistant to solvents, acids, gasoline and diesel fuels.
Conventional building materials, such as wood and concrete, are applied to the foamglass material, giving the Koljern homes the appearance of ordinary houses, according to Persson.
Rust said Mard may be shown places where the company could potentially manufacture and assemble the modular construction.
One of the first meetings will be with Fayetteville Fire Department and Building Safety Division staff to explore what needs to be done to meet U. S. building codes.
Lennart Stridsberg of Stridsberg Powertrain AB is tentatively scheduled to arrive in Fayetteville on May 27. The company specializes in hybrid engines and cars.
According to the Web site for Powertrain, a Strigear car with the body and weight similar to the first generation of the Toyota Prius would register 101 mpg in U. S. city traffic and 82 mpg on a U. S. highway.
Adam Lindahl of Demolition and Asbestos Removal Inc. in California will explore moving that company to Fayetteville. He arrives June 2.
Tommy Lindvall, Peg Lindvall and Anders Gahne of Moving Floor arrive June 9. Gahne is also the owner of one of Sweden's largest wind farms and is interested in exchanging ideas and information about wind power while in Fayetteville.
The visits are about opportunity, Rust said.
"We don't know at this point if any of this will work," he said. "The contract with Per-Erik is to get us opportunities to talk to these people. This might be a whole new industry in America or it might turn out to be nothing. We don't know at this point."
According to Rust, the collaboration also offers opportunities to Fayetteville citizens.
"I think there's going to be an opportunity for everybody to see new opportunities," he said.
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