Swedish Logistics Delegation Visits Georgia

Left to right: Nils Eric Svensson, Arnt Moller Pedersen, Mats Johnsson. Photo by Trevor Williams.

A delegation from the southern Swedish province of Skane visited Atlanta and Savannah last week to research best practices and technology in the logistics industry.

Nils Eric Svensson, business manager for Region Skane, the local promotional authority, told GlobalAtlanta that the area is an important hub for northern Europe located at the meeting of the Baltic and North seas.

He said that as the “gateway to the Baltic,” the region is strategically placed to give access to emerging markets in the “new Europe," that has formed since the dissolution of the Soviet Union.

“The Baltic states that used to be under the Iron Curtain, including Russia, have money now and are interested in Western products,” Mr. Svensson said.

In Atlanta, the group met with Harvey Donaldson, director of the Georgia Institute of Technology’s Supply Chain and Logistics Institute to discuss partnering with Lund University in Skane.

Mats Johnsson, associate professor and managing director of Next Generation Innovative Logistics, a division of Lund University, said that Georgia Tech is well known in Sweden for logistics technology.

The group then went to Savannah, where Arnt Moller Pedersen, managing director of marketing for Copenhagen Malmo Port AB, said that they would research security practices at the Georgia port.

Mr. Pedersen’s company is incorporated in Sweden but runs joint port operations between Copenhagen, Denmark, and Malmo, Sweden, since the merger of the port authorities in 2001.

The two cities were linked by the Oresund Bridge in 2000, a rail and motor bridge spanning the 1,608 feet of the North Sea that separated them.

The trip was organized by the Swedish-American Chamber of Commerce of Georgia, which recently expanded to include Savannah.

 

Romanian Ambassadorial Caravan Comes to Atlanta

Mr. Vierita (left) and Mr. Taubman (right) are counterparts who will come together to market business opportunities in Romania.

Nicholas F. Taubman, U.S. ambassador to Romania, and Adrian Vierita, the Romanian ambassador to the U.S., are to visit the World Trade Center Atlanta on Thursday, Feb. 7, from 9:30-11:30 a.m.

The ambassadors are participating in a trade mission that also is to include New York and Washington in an effort to highlight the business opportunities for U.S. companies in Romania in the areas of financial services, consulting; energy; safety, security and defense; information and communications technology and tourism.

Representatives of the U.S. Commerce Department and the American Chamber of Commerce in Romania are also to attend.

The cost of attending the seminar is $40.

For more information, call Amy Ryan at (404) 897-6086 or send an e-mail to amy.ryan@mail.doc.gov.

 

Corporate Development Firm Hires New Consultant for Atlanta Office

Wood Dale, Ill.-based executive and corporate development firm RHR International Co. has hired Rayna Henderson as a consultant in the company’s Atlanta office.

The firm has offices in eight U.S. cities and eight countries, where they have partnered with local consulting firms.

Paul Winum, managing director of the Atlanta office, said that Dr. Henderson’s “ability to provide practical and measurable solutions to their organizational challenges” to clients will be an asset to the firm.

Ms. Henderson received a bachelor’s degree in philosophy from the State University of New York at Stony Brook, a masters in clinical psychology from Fisk University in Nashville and a doctorate in industrial and organizational philosophy from the University of Georgia.