A Word From the President

Gudrun Giddings

The Countdown Can Start - SAVE THE DATE !!

Eliason Merit Award - November 7

Sweden's Best Dressed Man 2014

Congratulations Jason "Timbuktu" Diakité 

The musician and artist Jason ”Timbuktu” Diaktié was awarded â€Sweden’s best dressed man 2014” by the Café Magazine.

The jury admire his great sense of style with his ability to carry both t-shirt and skate shoes as well as a three-piece suit and hat in an effortless way. 

According to the jury â€Jason manages to look 100 percent modern, even when he’s wearing classic dressy menswear and has a unique ability to mix colors and materials”. Congratulations Jason!

Translated and reported from Nyheter24 (09-25-2014) based on an article in Café Magazine

Mobile Passport Station

The Swedish Consulate is visiting Los Angeles

The Swedish Consulate General in San Francisco will be in Los Angeles to assist Swedish citizens with consular matters in connection with the mobile "passport station" will be in the Swedish church in San Pedro (1035 South Beacon Street, San Pedro, CA 90731) this Monday, October 6 through Thursday, October 9.

For more information in Swedish click here and more information in English click here.

Max Burgers

"The best burger in Sweden"

A year ago USA Today wrote an article that was called ”Top foreign chains we want in the USA”. Among these ten chains was the hamburger chain that makes the burger that Swedes refer to as the best burger in Sweden, Max Burgers. 

”Why are we limiting our french fries to plain ol' ketchup, America? The Max Burgers chain puts the freedom in freedom fries by offering eight different dipping sauces. Go the opposite of savory with sweet mustard, spicy with creole, or straight-up decadent with warm cheese sauce - the choice is yours. This Swedish chain cooks burgers fresh to order and even has low-carb, low-calorie, and vegetarian options for those feeling healthy” - That is how USA Today explains the delicious burgers from Sweden. 

The story behind Max Burgers started almost 50 years ago in Gällivare, situated in the most northern parts of Sweden. Curt Bergfors and his girlfriend Britta Andersson started the business and today it is run by their sons Richard (CEO) and Christoffer Bergfors (Vice President). 

Richard Bergfors was in USA not long ago and visited the land that was first with both hamburgers and fast food. He says that you learn a lot from traveling. He is a very result oriented man and he wants Max Burgers to grow and become a lot bigger that it already is - ”to win is to grow”, says Richard. 

Richard has been very successful, when he became CEO of Max Burgers, he decided that growing was what he wanted Max Burgers to do. When he started as CEO of the chain it had only spread in the Northern part of Sweden - today Max Burgers have over 100 restaurants all over the country, one in Denmark, three in Norway and ten… in Dubai! 

Max Burgers, the small chain from Gällivare has gotten very big. It is successfully expanding all the time, so who knows, maybe one day soon USA Today's wish might come true.

Translated and briefly reported from the article ”Richard Bergfors för familjeburgarna ut i världen”, written by Louise Fauvelle in ”Affärsresenären”.

Pay it Forward Labs

SACC-LA had a great time at the "Funding Event" in Santa Monica

SACC-LA would like to thank Pay it Forward Labs for a great evening! It was a night filled with mingle, networking, funding- and mentorship opportunities as well as live music and much more.

Our Marketing Managers had a great time at the beautiful  location the Victorian in Santa Monica. They met a lot of talented people, mentors, entrepreneurs and young professionals with great ideas! They hope to see you soon again!

Also, congratulations to photographer Rachael Thomson who won the lottery and received a one year membership at SACC-LA! Take a look at her beautiful work and her website!

SACC-LA Marketing Managers Oscar and Sofie are already looking forward to the next event!

Zero Waste

Sweden loves recycling

Each year, the average Swede produces 461 kilograms of waste. What Sweden does with their waste sets them a part from every other country, and as a result they are considered the world leader in energy recovery. Years ago, Sweden recognized the environmental harm caused by waste sitting in landfills and focused on developing alternatives to decrease the amount of toxins seeping into the ground. Their solution was the development 32 waste-to-energy (WTE) plants, which work by loading furnaces with garbage, burning it to generate steam which is used to spin generator turbines that produce electricity. 

By incinerating over two million tons of trash per year, Sweden is able to produce power provided by WTE plants to about 950,000 homes with heating, and 260,000 homes with electricity.

The country as a whole has been so successful with recycling that they now have to import garbage from the UK, Italy, Norway, and Ireland to feed the country’s 32 waste-to-energy (WTE) plants. Sweden's success with recycling has progressed over time since the 1970s when they began adopting fairly strict rules and regulations of how to handle waste. By the 90s, it was required by law that producers be held responsible for handling all costs related to collection and recycling or disposal of their products. Just over the past few years their recycling rate increased from 96% to 99%.

Swedish companies such as H&M have voluntarily joined the effort towards zero waste. H&M was the first retail company to launch a global garment collection initiative called Garment Collecting that entails accepting used clothing from customers in exchange for rebate coupons.

The three ways they plan to repurpose the unwanted garments are:

"1) Rewear â€“ clothing that can be worn again will be sold as second hand clothes
2) Reuse â€“ old clothes and textiles will be turned into other products, such as cleaning cloths
3) Recycle â€“ everything else is turned into textile fibers, or other use such as insulation."

Profits made from this program will be invested into social projects and innovative research projects designed to devise strategies for how old textiles can be turned into new fibers. Through these projects, H&M envisions a future that eliminates clothes waste altogether.

Here in the US, San Francisco sets the example in the field of zero waste. Their plan consists of mandatory composting, compulsory debris recycling, banning plastic bags and plastic bottles and mandatory recycling for all its residents. Back in 2002, San Francisco made a promise that by 2020 all of the city's waste will be recycled or composted. To date, they are at the 80 percent mark which is pretty remarkable.

The lioness shows her love to the man who saved her

Heartwarming

Film Festival Flix

Internship Film Acquisitions and Distribution

MouseTrap Films is an acquisition and Distribution Company, as well as the creator and owner of the Film Festival Flix monthly theatrical series and digital distribution platform. 

Based on an idea and a dedication to connect great films from festivals around the world with North American audiences, Film Festival Flix aims to bring attention to independent, art house, foreign language, and niche market movies that proved their quality at festivals around the world and showcase them for the pleasure of a wider audience. 

Film Festival Flix is currently looking for an intern to work in close collaboration, assisting our team with tasks ranging from calendar management, premiere event management, to research, acquisitions, marketing and promotions.  The intern will have the flexibility to work from home as well as in our office in Sherman Oaks and learn from veterans within the film industry to gain hands on experience and in depth understanding of film acquisition, marketing and distribution.

Read more about the internship on our career site 

Are you a talented professional seeking career opportunities in the entertainment capital of the world?

Please visit SACC-LA’s exciting career site to find a job that suits you!

Are you a high-demanding company looking for new brilliant colleagues to your organization?

Please contact SACC-LA to put a work placement ad on our career site!

Inside Stockholm's new 'no alcohol' nightclub

Sweden pays tribute to Estonia disaster victims

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