Blog
New year and many news 2012
Written januari 10th, 2012 by inger
We have just entered the new year, 2012, and this year is sure to bring about several new changes here at Västerbotten Investment Agency. New sectors, new web and new colleagues. We will tell you all about it shortly, but until then we wish everyone a great new year and look forward to meet our old friends again and make new friends along the road.
MEDICA in Dusseldorf
Written november 18th, 2011 by bjorn
This years edition of MEDICA gave an impression of being less busy than last years. Although the number of exhibitors were roughly the same it felt less crowded. I met with a number of companies working on different applications of biomedical sensors. It is clear that Västerbotten has a unique opportunity to solve some important questions. We now have to pull the right people together and make things happen. Tele-medicine and e-health are other strong areas in Västerbotten that we will see growing in importance.
Facebook will build new data center in Luleå – our sincerest congratulations!
Written oktober 27th, 2011 by inger
Now it’s finally official that Facebook will build their first data center outside of the US, and the location they decided upon is Luleå in the north of Sweden. The investment is estimated to 5 Billion SEK and several hundreds of jobs are expected to come as a result. This is a huge investment not only for Luleå but for all of north Sweden and it’s our hope that more data centers will follow.
We congratulate all of those who have been involved in the process that has taken over two years. Invest Sweden, Luleå Näringsliv, Invest in Norrbotten and so many more have worked day and night with this project. Today they can all rejoice and reap the fruit of all their hard work. Once again congrats and hopefully the next data center will be placed in Västerbotten!
Read more about it (in Swedish)
Local newspaper NSD http://www.nsd.se/
Press release from Luleå http://www.mynewsdesk.com/se/pressroom/lulea-naringsliv
Press release from Invest Sweden http://www.mynewsdesk.com/se/pressroom/invest_sweden/
Read the article Bad Bugs – No Drugs from Nordstjernan in Chicago
Written oktober 5th, 2011 by inger
In the article published in the magazine Nordstjernan, BadBugsArticle-sep2011 Kerstin Nicholson writes about the successful event arranged by the Consulate General of Sweden and the Swedish Embassy that gathered the world’s leading researchers and companies battling infection diseases. The event was initiated by our colleague Björn Ursing, and turned out to be a real big hit with the participants.
In his own words Björn said:
“The outcome of this event far exceeded our expectations, 60 people participated in the presentations and discussed the latest research findings. We are extremely proud that the research being done in Umeå is amongst the world leading within infection control. This was another opportunity for Swedish companies and researchers to network with big international pharmaceutical companies and researchers.”
We have a press releasein Swedish available as well that tells a bit more about the event, and if you are curious to find out even more just give him a call or send him a mail. Press – Västerbottniskt initiativ samlade ledande aktörer inom infektionsforskning i Chicago
Phone +46 70 811 12 68
Bjorn.ursing@viavasterbotten.se
Updated stats about the wind power projects in Västerbotten
Written september 21st, 2011 by inger
We have now updated the map showing the windpower projects in Västerbotten with the latest stats from August 2011. You’ll find them here >>
This is the time for change
Written september 2nd, 2011 by inger
As you probably know we are about to hire two new persons to join the VIA-team and the respons has been great. So many qualified people have sent in their applications and now we will wait and see you the new team-members will be.
Part from the recruitment process this fall has really taken off flying. We are busier than ever with visits from potential investors to our region and several “old friends” have come around with new interest again. We couldn’t be happier to see this development and we do our very best to accommodate everyone’s wishes. But if you want to catch us at the office that might be a tricky task, although you can always get a hold of us by mail or phone. So don’t hesitate to pick up the phone or send us a mail.
We are hiring!
Written augusti 15th, 2011 by inger
Västerbotten Investment Agency is growing and we need to fill two positions, one Market Manager and one Trade Show Coordinator. Read more about the positions here.
Fluent Swedish is required and the text is in Swedish.
BIO 2011 in Washington DC
Written juni 30th, 2011 by bjorn
This years BIO in Washington DC is very rewarding. Since many in senior management of big pharma is here I have been able to get good meeting with the right people. In general, this year the regional and national pavillions are dominating the exhibition and most of the business is concentrated to the partnering. But the presence of the Scandinavian pavillion should not be underestimated. Next years BIO is a must for me.
As seen on TV – a feature of Aslean International Tires on TV4
Written juni 27th, 2011 by inger
Last week was the official opening of Aslean International Tires and the press was present. It resulted in a feature on the regional TV4.
Västerbotten Investment Agency is granted expansion and extension
Written juni 7th, 2011 by inger
Västerbotten Investment Agency recently got a green light from the EU Structural Funds for the financing of two more years. In addition to the extended time Västerbotten Investment Agency will also expand their focus sectors to include Creative Industries, Tourism and GIS. These new sectors will complement the already established sectors; Cleantech, Automotive, Mining, Life Science, Manufacturing and Wood. In the future Västerbotten Investment Agency will also focus on Trade Shows and offer regional companies the opportunity to exhibit in a “North Sweden Pavilion”.
- I’m very proud over my staff and the results that we have accomplished so far. Of course we are extremely glad that we’ve been given this trust to continue our work with to strengthen the image of Västerbotten internationally, says Anders Wangby, Director, Västerbotten Investment Agency.
- Regarding trade shows we have for quite some time seen that Swedish companies in general do not prioritize to exhibit at international fairs. We would like to change that and together with our neighbouring regions, Norrbotten, Jämtland and Västernorrland, we’d like to offer our companies the opportunity to exhibit under a common “North Sweden Pavilion”, Mr. Wangby says and continues;
- We want to accomplish a win-win situation for the companies and for the region as a whole, by working together we’ll be able to strengthen each other’s images.
The approved financing lasts until the end of 2013 and the goal is that Västerbotten Investment Agency will transform into a permanent organisation after that. This expansion and broader focus will require more personnel and two new persons will be hired.
- We expect to hire two additional persons to strengthen our team. The recruitment process will start later in the fall and we hope to find the right people quickly and get them up to speed as soon as possible, says Mr. Wangby.
The results after roughly two years in operation for Västerbotten Investment Agency are 13 new investments to the region. Investments and new jobs that each year generate close to 28 MSEK back to the region.
For more information please contact
Anders Wangby
Director
Västerbotten Investment Agency
+46 70 595 19 30
Anders.wangby@viavasterbotten.se
www.viavasterbotten.se
The second VIA-day and great international interest for Västerbotten
Written maj 31st, 2011 by inger
In the middle of May we arranged the second consecutive VIA-day for the municipal representatives in Västerbotten, our most important partners as they are our eyes and ears out in their respective municipality. We try to gather all the municipalities at least once a year for a one-day event. The purpose is of course for us to inform everyone about what’s happened and what’s new. Even though we regularly send out information in various shape and form everyone knows that there’s nothing that beats the personal meeting and the face-to-face interaction. So, at least once a year we want to gather as many municipal trade developers from the region that we can.
Last year we were in Lycksele but this year we decided on Vindeln for our get together. During the day we talked about what VIA has done since we met the last time and our forecast for the future. From our perspective the outlook is positive, we are experiencing an increase in interest from foreign companies. More and more want to come here for visits and we see more companies that actually pick up the phone and contact us and say that they’re interested in the northern part of Sweden.
That means that we sometimes have the delightful problem of shuffling our schedules around to be able to take care of our visitors and setting up meetings with the regional companies. We see this upturn not only in Västerbotten but in all of northern Sweden, there is really a hausse taking place now.
Now I’m off to see other future trends, the graduating students at Umeå Institute of Design are presenting their work and that ought to be something out of the ordinary!
Our future is decided upon tomorrow – will there be a VIA 2.0?
Written maj 18th, 2011 by inger
Tomorrow, Thursday the 19th of May 2011, we will receive the final “go” or “no go” on the extended life of VIA. We all keep our fingers crossed and hope that we will be granted a prolonged financing of our project. If all goes according to plan the next phase of VIA, VIA 2.0, will bring along a set of new and exiting sectors and other new elements. But we’ll tell you more after tomorrow.
We are all happy with the work that we’ve done so far, but all of us are eager to show that we can do much more. We have only started to promote Västerbotten around the world and the opportunities here in the northern part of Europe just seem to grow more and more.
Globally the interest for the Arctic Region and the Barents Region is really booming, not only for the natural resources but also for other sectors as well such as technology, energy, tourism, infrastructure etc. This part of the world is definitively one of the big hot-spots in the coming years and we hope that Västerbotten Investment Agency will be one of the messengers spreading the word about what’s going on in our region and the endless amount of opportunities there are here.
ECCMID/ICC in Milano
Written maj 11th, 2011 by bjorn
The ECCMID/ICC exhibition was mostly dedicated to diagnostics. I feel that the area of antibiotics has a tough time right now. But with the help of academic institutes like UCMR in Umeå, there is hope that new therapies will reach the market before it is too late.
Data Centers 2011 in Nice
Written maj 5th, 2011 by bjorn
Invest:Sweden is sponsoring the DataCenter meeting DC2011. We are 24 participants from all over Sweden and can easily be spotted at the meeting in our blue shirts. Talking to other participants at DC2011 I strongly believe that Västerbotten can be the home of Data Center Park with a number of large data centers. We have what it takes: free cooling, high connectivity and good power grids.
Learning more about labor legislation, branch office vs. Ltd, capital investments and much more during two interesting days at Invest Sweden
Written april 6th, 2011 by inger
At the beginning of this week the whole VIA-team spent two days at World Trade Center in Stockholm for the “Knowledge-days” arranged by Business & Investor Services at Invest Sweden and we got to listen to several interesting presentations.
First we started off with a session about Swedish labor legislation compared to labor legislation in other countries where we learned that Sweden does have competitive labor legislation compared to other countries. Even though Sweden has a high level of unionization the Swedish unions and the employer’s organization cooperate quite well and there are hardly every any disagreements between the parties. Lecturer was Prof. Johann Mulder at University of Lund.
After a short break when we got the chance to reacquaint ourselves with our colleagues from the other regions in Sweden. As always these get-togethers are high appreciated by all of us as we rarely get the chance to meet all at once.
The second presentation was by Krister Holmberg at the law firm Ekenberg & Andersson who talked about the differences between setting up a branch office or a subsidiary in Sweden, and which one is better. The conclusion was; it all depends. As always each company has to look at their own respective situation in order to decide which one of the two that will suit them the best. But it’s always good for us at VIA to be aware of the differences between the two options.
Last but nowhere near the least we had the privilege to listen to Décathlon, the huge French sporting retail company, and their plans for Sweden. I have to say that it was very interesting to listen to their strategy and how they plan to expand in Sweden over the next ten years.
To finish of the day we all enjoyed a lovely dinner where we got the chance to talk to everyone a little more.
Day number two started with a presentation of VINNOVA, the organization and what kind of grants and support that companies can apply for. A lot of useful information, because there are so many different support opportunities that companies can apply for if they want. The R&D field is one of the highly prioritized areas for VINNOVA. The only “problem” or obstacle for companies seeking support is actually to identify the different opportunities that are out there. But we were all referred to their website www.vinnova.se to read up on what’s available.
Finally we were given a presentation by Magnus Lövdén, Partner at Skarpa, who talked about mergers and acquisitions and how foreign companies can invest in and buy Swedish companies. I have to admit that I did not expect this to be the most interesting presentation of them all, boy was I wrong! The topic was intriguing and Magnus proved to be a charismatic and inspiring presenter. I really think that we should all, public officials, businesspeople and students, get a larger dose of this. It was very interesting and good to learn more about why private equity companies are not the best buyer for a company. I really recommend Magnus Lövdén as a lecturer for any one who’s interested.
All in all it was two days well spent in Stockholm, and I’d like to thank Invest Sweden and all of our colleagues spread out over the country for arranging and taking part. I already look forward to the next time we’ll meet!
Interphex 2011 in New York, NY
Written mars 31st, 2011 by bjorn
After two days at Interphex I feel that I have gone through the show. I met with a lot of companies that I previously had contact with and a few new ones. Interphex is smaller than I had hoped but I really felt I met the right people. I take the fact that so many by now knew some about what Västerbotten has to offer as a sign that attending trade shows pays off.
Report from seminar in Brussels about Raw Materials in the Barents Region
Written mars 29th, 2011 by inger
The mining industry get together for intense and interesting days at the PDAC Show in Toronto
Written mars 15th, 2011 by inger
Last week Anders and I were over in Canada to participate in one of the largest mining expos in the world, PDAC in Toronto. http://www.pdac.ca/pdac/conv/ This was my second visit to the show and I thought that last year was busy, that was nothing compared to this year! I heard someone mentioning that there were over 35 000 people at the show, I don’t have any official numbers to confirm that just yet but it’s most likely.
We spent three whole days at the expo and made lots of good contacts and kept spreading the word of mining in north Sweden. It’s so much fun to see that more and more people now seem to be aware of what’s going on in our part of the world. According to Anders five years ago Sweden was nowhere near this recognized. That means that everyone who’s been involved in marketing Sweden as a mining nation has done a really good job!
VIA didn’t have a booth of ourselves, but the SGU (Swedish Geological Survey) has one together with the Finnish equivalent and they said that they had had a lot of visitors to their booth. Several new exploration companies want to enter the Swedish market and that is most welcome! We’re also most pleased that the Swedish Government announced that they are currently working on a national strategy for minerals and metals, more news on that later on this fall. Read more about it in the latest newsletter from SGU. http://www.sgu.se/opencms/export/download/nyhetsbrev/metaller-mineral-mars-2011.pdf
During these days we had the privilege to touch base again with some of our old friends and acquaintances and also meet people that we hope will be our friends in the future. We also heard interesting news that we hope we’ll be able to write about shortly.
ecobuild
Written mars 7th, 2011 by olle
After attending the ecobuild show it is obvious that we all carry a responsibility not only to our children not even our grand children but to our grandgrand children. It is estimated that we until year 2050 will be 50% more people on the globe and that the total population will consume 100% more energy than today. We all have to take this responsibility starting today by using all resourses including energy more efficient.
From Megawatts to negawatts: taking the energy out of buildings
The focus in recent years on energy efficient new building is increasingly understood and accepted: the path to zero carbon is drawn. But the carbon impact of the built environment is made by the existing stock, and it is here that the challange to reduce energy consumption lies. How can homes and non domestic buildings use less energy? What are the technical, financial, regulatory and social issues? And, how can a more energy efficient building stock be brought about?
This will be one of the future opportunities and the awareness was obvious at ecobuild
Two articles published in Dagens Industri today!
Written februari 25th, 2011 by inger
Today is an extermely good day for VIA PR-wise. The leading financial/business newspaper in Sweden, Dagens Industri, published two articles in a spread. The first article was about one of the investors to the region, Aslean International Tires, and the other was about VIA. The articles are only available in the printed version, you’ll find them on page 22-23.
Read the article here (in Swedish only)
Feb 25, 2011_Dagens Industri
Biotech Umeå at Grand Hotel in Stockholm
Written februari 14th, 2011 by bjorn
Last week I attended Biotech Umeås meeting at Grand Hotel. I think the afternoon/evening was a great success. Even though I know much about what is going on in Västerbotten, I could not help getting amazed about the expertise in sports medicine and reproductive medicine that was presented. We still have a distance to go telling everybody about what Västerbotten have to offer.
High North policy is the highest priority in the EU – what about Sweden’s national strategy for minerals?
Written februari 10th, 2011 by inger
Towards the end of last year I attended a very interesting conference in Oslo with the theme The Barents Region – Where Gas meets Ore. It was a very interesting conference in many ways and the main message from the participants was captured by the Norwegian State Secretary Erik Lahnstein, Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He said that “High North policy is the highest priority”, not just for the countries within the Barents region, but for the entire EU. To back up this statement he presented three reasons.
- The climate
- The Russian development in the northern region
- The natural resources, in the Barents region the natural resources both onshore and off-shore area abundant
Another speaker was the EU ambassador, Janos Herman, who talked about the EU strategies for mineral supply for Europe and how the eye of Brussels has turned towards the north. Other participants at the conference were professors from Sweden, Norway and Russia, ambassadors and stat secretaries, representatives from Tillväxtverket in Sweden and also a number of company representatives.
The conference was, as I said, very interesting although the talks, the truth be told, sometimes tended to be slightly too much like political speeches read from a manuscript. One thing that I noticed, and several others along with me, was that while both Finland and now even Norway stated that they have – or will shortly have – a national strategy for mining and minerals Sweden said no such thing. That makes me wonder why our politicians have not placed the same emphasis on this sector as our neighbours. Both Norway and Finland also had their representatives who said that the future of their respective nation is in the northern part of the country. There is not one person who officially represents Sweden who I’ve ever heard saying those words. These are just interesting observations and I personally hope that the attitudes in Sweden will shift as well, because here just as in Finland and Norway the largest growth and the largest investments will take place in the northern part of the country.
Despite that, the main message that we all took with us from this conference in Oslo was that the Barents Region is indeed a hot-spot, not only in Europe but globally, and that was really encouraging.
Creative industries – what about it?
Written februari 3rd, 2011 by inger
Last week I the privilege to be part of the opening for “Västerbotten at Grand Hôtel” in Stockholm, the annual three weeks of festivities and celebrations when Västerbotten invades the capital. Each year has its’ own theme for the opening and this year the spotlight was turned on the creative industries.
“Creative Västerbotten” was the title for the event and one after the other did the brilliant, enthusiastic and – of course – creative speakers enter the stage to spread their word of the amazing companies and spirit we have in Västerbotten. In our province you’ll find some of the world’s most renowned agencies within digital communications. North Kingdom, Hello Future, Dohi Sweden, Infotech Umeå and Kreator were a few of the companies represented during the day.
The event itself must be regarded as nothing but a success and in the expression in the eyes of those in the audience showed inspiration and awe. Maybe some of those who listened didn’t already know that the digital campaigns for Disney, Coca Cola Zero, Adidas and many, many more were made in Skellefteå. Or that digital drums used by Madonna and Jay-Z come from Umeå. Or that the computer game Magicka, developed in Skellefteå, sold over 30 000 units on the very first day of it’s release, which meant that they wiped the floor other new releases from big players such as EA Games. The list goes on and on with international success-stories written by small, extremely driven and creative companies in Västerbotten.
It’s obvious that we’ve got something short of unique here in Västerbotten when it comes to companies within digital communication/solutions. But all of this talk about the creative industry got me thinking of all the other aspects of the creative industries, that which goes beyond the digital communications. There are so many other interesting entrepreneurs in our province and the tricky part is to decide where we draw the line, if a line needs to be drawn, what can be labeled as a part of the “creative industry” or not?
But designing glasses is indeed creative, and marketing them as high fashion is genius. So is running your own blog, producing your own magazine and having your own radio show, especially when it’s all done by the same person. Creating the most wonderful pieces of art out of wire netting is not just creative, it’s artistic, not to forget the talented photographers that we have. The creative sector goes far beyond the boundaries of digital communications, it’s an exciting environment we’ve got here.
Creating a hot-spot in a cold climate – how to attract more foreign investors to Västerbotten
Written januari 31st, 2011 by inger
Don’t miss out on the seminar held by Västerbotten Investment Agency in Skellefteå next week!
On Tuesday Feb. 8, between 7:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m. at the lecture hall Forum on Campus Anders Wangby and Clive Vokes will be the main speakers talking about investment promotion and what makes a region attractive to foreign investors. Regions on the move, what are they? What do we have here in the north of Sweden that none else can offer?
It will be an interesting evening and the whole VIA crew will be present to talk more about our specific focus sectors and the future of VIA. The seminar is free of charge and more information can be found here Campus Skellefteå (in Swedish only)
Builder’s show in Orlando
Written januari 20th, 2011 by olle
The downturn in North America construction industry is forcing the NA manufacturers to highlight the importance of transformation from domestic to international presence. The Builders show and additional company visits can all be viewed as quality meetings and the network with strategic decision makers was extended substantially. New technology introduction related to market drivers in Europe was focus in our discussions.
However the weather conditions in NA caused a struggle against time. I was denied rental car in Iowa because the blizzard. Des Moines flight delayed 24 hours. Several airports shut down. Schools shut down and only highways maintained from snow. It was not worse than any snowy day in North Sweden and if we were prepared in the same way we would have been forced to shut down schools and airports in total during December, January and February. It is obvious that our knowledge how to maintain snow condition, our equipment and experience can be seen as valued asset that could be for sale.
Aslean International Tires nominated as Newcomer at Alvar Galan
Written januari 17th, 2011 by inger
We’re delighted to see that Aslean International Tires has been nominated to Alvar Galan (the Regional Business Awards in the Skellefteå region). Aslean moved to Malå at the beginning of summer last year and they are doing really well already. They got their first contract signed with Boliden during fall last year and more contracts are about to follow.
The company has been nominated in the category “Newcomer of the Year” other nominated companies in the same category are Fotonic and Sonia’s Deli
One caught in a blizzard and one heading to the sun in Abu Dahbi
Written januari 14th, 2011 by inger
The new year has started and the trade shows are running all over the world once again. As always some of our guys are out doing an excellent job representing Västerbotten and spreading our message. Olle is currently overseas at one of the huge building expos, NAHB International Builder’s Show in Orlando and according to the last updates the responses are really positive.
It’s a good thing that he made it there, the connecting flights to Orlando were cancelled due to heavy snow and apparently they even had degrees below zero in Florida. Not the kind of weather reports we’re used to get from the Sun State. But he finally made it and we hope that the leads from this show may turn out to be something really good.
Anders is also travelling at the moment, heading to a climate guaranteed to be nice and warm, maybe sometimes even too hot, namely the World Future Energy Summit in Abu Dahbi. This year there will be a good-sized Swedish pavilion with 30 Swedish companies and organizations exhibiting together. The opening speeches will be by HE Ban Ki-Moon, General Secretary, UN and HRH Crown Princess of Sweden, Victoria. It ought to be a very interesting summit this year.
The rest of us are home at the moment enjoying the magnificent winter wonderland that we have in Västerbotten this time of year. No blizzard paralyzing the traffic, just wonderfully sparkling snowflakes playing in the pale light of the midwinter sun.
Dalvardo, Sorsele Municpality Photo: Håkan L.
Northern Scandinavia – cold climate, hot ideas
Written december 29th, 2010 by inger
Recharge News has published several articles on wind-, solar- and bio-energy in Northern Sweden.
Meeting with the economic development managers in Västerbotten
Written december 16th, 2010 by inger
Today Anders, Björn and I went to the regional meeting in Umeå with the economic development managers from the municipalities in Västerbotten. We presented VIA’s accomplishments so far, what we’ve done during the past year and what our plans are for the future. Unfortunately Anders and I couldn’t stay the whole day as we had other meetings in Umeå, but as always it’s good to meet our friends and collegues in the region.
Now we’re just 8 days away from Christmas so I thought that a candle could help spread the Christmasy-feeling.
Getting back from Mines and Money 2010 in London
Written december 3rd, 2010 by inger
This week we’ve been travelling again, it’s actually a rather rare occasion to find us all at the office at the same time. Anders has been to Pollutec in Lyon and I have been to Mines & Money in London, held at the Business Design Center in Islington. This was actually my first visit to London and I looked forward to the expo, once I arrived the city greeted me with a tube-strike and heavy traffic. I also got to experience Britain during a snow chaos, fortunately London itself was not very affected by the snowstorm, at least not during my stay. But despite those minor setbacks in the weather my stay in London was excellent and I meet some really interesting companies and people at the trade show. Some were familiar faces belonging to companies we have met before and others new acquaintances who got to learn more about the opportunities in the mining industry in the Barents region. It’s always important to maintain our contacts with the companies over time and keep informing them about what’s going on in our part of the world. I have to say that it’s rewarding to talk about all the things going on in northern Scandinavia and the Barents Region establishing itself as one of the true hot-spots in the world. You can get almost anyone’s attention when you talk about 100 Billion Euro being invested in this region until 2020.
According to the organisers there were 143 exhibiting companies present and I don’t know exactly how many visitors there were but the feeling was that there were quite a few people there.
Judging by the name of the expo there is a great emphasis on the investment part of mining at this event, which was clear from the type of companies exhibiting. It was mainly junior companies presenting their projects to investors, there were also several consultancy firms and software companies. Not so many service supplies as I would have expected and hardly any of the established companies with established mining operations.
The majority of the companies were either European or Canandian, or presenting projects in Africa and/or South America. Not so many Asian companies at this expo.
I also talked to the network Women in Mining, which I hope can bring some interesting new contacts. Maybe we can convince them to be part of Euro Mine Expo 2012, who knows?
All in all it was a good expo, as always the people in this industry are really friendly and it’s a good atmosphere amongst the exhibitors. I sensed the optimism in the room, which is easy to understand with the demand of raw materials seemingly unable to satisfy. Another thing that is clear is that we really need to continue arranging the Euro Mine Expo, with Mines & Money focusing on the financing part of mining and FEM focusing on the exploration and research, there is no other expo in Europe targeting the mining and service sector related to mining. Several people said that Euro Mine Expo has filled a gap in the market and already made a name for itself, which of course makes me really glad.
Well, that was it for now. Now it’s time for me to start the follow-up from the event, I’ve got a sizable stack of business cards to go through.
Medica 2010 in Düsseldorf
Written november 22nd, 2010 by bjorn
I am now back from Medica in Düsseldorf wich I attended together with Olle Norberg. Just like last year the number of exhibitors exceeded 4 000 and the number of registered visitors were close to 140 0000. It is an interesting showcase of what the industry has to offer. This year I have partly focused on diagnostics and to find collaborators in the field of infectious diseases to Umeå Center for Microbial Reaserch (UCMR) and to our 11 spinn-outs in the field. In addition, we got good responds in talking to exhibitors about some of the companies in our region.
VIA goes global
Written november 12th, 2010 by inger
Well, in a sense we could argue that we already are since we have our representatives in both Norway and North America. But what I had in mind right now is that next week we’ll all spread out over the globe.
Anders is flying to Atlanta today and then heading up to Chicago to attend the Greenbuild Expo during next week. At the same time Björn and Olle are going down to Germany for MEDICA in Dysseldorf. As for myself I’m going to attend the The Barents Region – Where Gas meets Ore, a conference in Olso arranged by the Norwegian, Swedish and Finnish ambassies.
So next week we’ll hardly be at the office, instead we’ll be out spreading the word of Västerbotten around the world.
The mining industry is blooming in the Nordic countries
Written november 5th, 2010 by inger
Yes indeed.
The new press center for VIA is published
Written november 2nd, 2010 by inger
We have now launched our new press center for VIA. There you’ll find all of our latest and historical press releases along with the link to our Twitter account, our brochure and hopefully we’ll continue to fill this page with a lot of useful information, publications etc.
We hope you’ll find it useful.
Enjoy!
The first Foreign Investor’s Day 2010 in Västerbotten was a success!
Written november 1st, 2010 by inger
There is actually no other word that is sufficient when it comes to describing our first ever Foreign Investor’s Day in Västerbotten. Everyone gathered, no matter whether you were a company representative, from one of the municipalities, the Regional Council of Västerbotten, County Administrative Board of Västerbotten, Invest Sweden or Västerbotten Investment Agency. Everyone in unison said that this event was something they had missed in the region and that they really wanted to see the Foreign Investor’s Day as a reoccurring event in the following years to come.
This was the arena where a new investor could meet with a representative from a global corporation in a completely different industry and in a different part of the province. But the magic arises in these differences, we can all learn from each other and we realize that we do share a lot of similar problems and challenges in our everyday life.
The participants all agreed that Västerbotten is a province full of riches and opportunities, we just have to keep working together and getting our message out there to the rest of the world. Judging by the response we got this event will be back next year and then we hope to see even more participants.
Welcome to Foreign Investor’s Day 2011 in Västerbotten!
Västerbotten grows – Engineers wanted
Written oktober 18th, 2010 by inger
Right now there are job openings for 15 engineers with different focus areas in Västerbotten, ranging from Production managers to Environmental Engineers to Constructors to many more options. So if you are an engineer looking for a new challenge turn your gaze to Västerbotten!
CPhI Worldwide, ICSE, P-MEC & BioPh 2010 in Paris
Written oktober 7th, 2010 by bjorn
This huge event in contract manufacturing of ingredients and equipment in the pharma indutry has gathered some 30.000 deligates and 2.000 exhibitors. For me this has been a very good opportunity to meet with companies that could have interaction with the life science sector in Västerbotten. In the near future I hope we will se some visits to northern Sweden.
Welcome to Foreign Investor’s Day in Västerbotten 28th of October
Written oktober 4th, 2010 by inger
Västerbotten Investment Agency is proud to announce the first Foreign Investor’s Day in Västerbotten the 28th of October.
We will gather representatives from international companies present in Västerbotten, whether you are a new investor or a site manager for global corporation, together with representatives from the municipalities, Länsstyrelsen, Region Västerbotten and Invest Sweden. During an afternoon we will discuss the business climate and investment opportunities in Västerbotten, both as it is today and what we see will come tomorrow.
You will get the chance to listen to presentations from two very different companies in the region. One is part of a global corporation and the other company has just set up their business in Västerbotten. How do they view this region and what are their experiences?
This event is an opportunity for you to meet the local and regional officials in the province and ask them the questions you want to ask. Let them know what the positive aspects with Västerbotten are and what you think we should improve as a region to attract even more investments in the future.
You will also meet other investors from other industries and other countries, share your experiences of Västerbotten and build your network in the region.
When and where?
October 28
12:00 – 17:00
Lövånger Kyrkstad
We start with a lovely lunch and continue with the conference part in the afternoon.
We truly value your presence and hope to see you in Lövånger at October 28th.
WELCOME!
Any questions can be sent to Inger Edlund, Västerbotten Investment Agency
0910-71 26 82, inger.edlund@viavasterbotten.se
ICAAC in Boston
Written september 14th, 2010 by bjorn
The Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, ICAAC, in Boston MA celebrates its 50th anniversary this week. This year it is estimated to have attracted some 10.000 participants from all over the world. It has been a great opportunity to share some of my thoughts around the infectious disease cluster in Umeå with both academic scientists and senior executives in big and small pharmaceutical companies.
Visits from Canada and Japan to Västerbotten this week
Written september 7th, 2010 by inger
This week we have had the honour of having two equally important and interesting visits to our province. One was a delegation from Canada consisting of senior advisors and political representatives from all the provinces with a particular interest in bio-energy. http://www.tradecommissioner.gc.ca During their stay they visited Skellefteå Kraft and the CHP-plant in Hedensbyn where they got a guided tour of the entire plant by the CEO Lars Atterhem. The delegation also visited Solander Science Park in Piteå to learn more about the biofuel-projects and the DME production.
At the end of the week we have a distinguished visitor from a Japanese corporation who will meet with GreenExergy and visit the CHP-plant in Hedensbyn. Then he will visit forest related companies in Umeå, Norra Skogsägarna and Komatsu Forest.
As always we are grateful for our companies in the province that receive these visits and dedicate their time and effort. We all hope that this will lead to great things in the future that the companies and the region will benefit from.
Three new establishments this summer – mining is hot
Written augusti 17th, 2010 by inger
We at VIA are proud to announce that during the summer 0f 2010 Västerbotten has had three new establishments from foreign companies. Two of these are green investments and one is an acquisition of a local company by a larger international company. We, and all of Västerbotten, welcome these new investments and we are positive that all of these three will prosper and grow as they all bring something new to the market.
One of them is a South African gold exploration company, Horizon Blue;
- From my first visit to the heartland of gold mining in Europe in October 2009, it is obvious to me that Sweden contains some of the most attractive and prospective unexplored geology with the huge potential for discovery of new precious and base metal deposits, says Chris McKnight, CEO and founder of exploration company Horizon Blue.
In the early winter of 2010 McKnight applied for exploration permits over 2,770ha of prospective geology associated with the 1.75Ga Gallejaur volcanic structure in Västerbotten Province, northern Sweden. The permits are known as Petträsket 1 to 4, and the first 900ha permit was recently awarded.
Horizon Blue was registered in Sweden June 1st with the business objective of tapping into the vast unexplored potential in north Sweden. Horizon Blue will initially focus on the Skellefteå Belt and Arvidsjaur volcanic provinces that stretch out to the North West.
Chris McKnight is a highly qualified entrepreneurial geologist from South Africa with vast experience from numerous successful precious metal exploration projects managed by his Johannesburg-based Horizon Blue Resources Company.
- Exploration methodology is based on the unique ability to see the significance and new eyes bring a new interpretation. We are driven by a passion for new discoveries, and a focused dedication. Our goal is that Horizon Blue will grow into a significant gold exploration company, McKnight said.
- We must find the big deposits in this investor-friendly, vastly under-explored region, which will help to build on the existing mining potential of northern Sweden, McKnight continues as he reflects upon his new quest.
The permit area lies within the heart of the Skellefteå Gold Belt some 30km east of Malå and 80km inland from Skellefteå in the northern part of Västerbotten. This easily accessible exploration area is surrounded by well-known past and present base metal mines such as Holmtjärn, Rakkejaur, Näsliden and Maurliden. All these deposits have consisted of near vertical volcanogenic base metal sulphide deposits with a variable gold and silver content. The Holmtjärn mine, owned by Boliden, was particularly gold rich.
We at Västerbotten Investment Agency are of course more than happy to assist all of our new investors and wish them all a warm welcome to Västerbotten!
We are back in business again
Written augusti 13th, 2010 by inger
The summer holidays are over for this year and we are back at the office again ready to take on whatever the fall of 2010 has to offer. I hope that you have all had a wonderful summer just as we had here in Västerbotten, it was one of those magical summers with lots of sun and just the right amount of rain to water the plants and keep the drought away.
We do have a lot of interesting activities planned this fall but we will tell you more about this later on. The next planned trips that we have is the national conference for Invest Sweden and all the regions, on August 25th we will gather in Stockholm for a one-day conference. Anders and our Norwegian representative Jan will also attend the Offshore Northern Seas Expo in Stavanger, Norway at the end of August.
Summer has come with interesting conferences and expos.
Written juli 2nd, 2010 by inger
Next week I will attend Creative Clusters in Huddersfield, UK for the first time. I’m sure it’ll be an interesting week with lots of inspiration and many new valuable contacts. http://www.creativeclusters.com/
Olle will travel down to Germany to visit Interforst and the forest industry in Munich in the middle of July.
The summer holidays are coming up but you can always reach us at VIA on our mobile phones, the office will be unattended for week 30, the last week of July, but part from that there is always at least one of us working.
We wish you all a wonderful summer and look forward to seeing you in August again.
VIA-day in Lycksele June 22nd
Written juni 23rd, 2010 by inger
Yesterday we arranged a VIA-day in Lycksele. The trade and economic development representatives from the municipalities in Västerbotten were invited to discuss questions regarding inward investment promotion in the region, the cooperation with VIA and other development issues. The presentations that we listened to were, “The international world of Investment Promotion – where we’ve been, where we’re going and where VIA fits it” from Clive Vokes, Market Scoping International.
“Investment promotion on a national level – the collective strengths and individual weaknesses of Sweden” from Klas Ericson, Invest Sweden. Ansgar Hahn from Epo-Energy gave a presentation from an investor’s point of view on what the challenges and positive surprises had been in the Wind energy business in Sweden. Then we also had presentations from VIA about where we are today, what we’ve accomplished so far and how the future looks from our horizon.
It was a very successful day and I would once again like to thank everybody that participated and those that could not come this time are more than welcome to our next meeting.
Some of the participants in Lycksele
Mingling with the creative class att Creative Summit 2010
Written juni 17th, 2010 by inger
Yesterday was the first day at the conference Creative Summit here in Skellefteå and we got to listen to Alf Rehn as the moderator and Brian Solis who, quote ” is globally recognized as one of most prominent thought leaders in new media” unquote. Brian gave an inspiring speech about the importance of content in everything you do, especially in the social media, and the fact that our networks are expanding constantly.
After lunch Patrik form Direktörn & Fabrikörn talked about their short films produced here in Skellefteå/Piteå that made it all the way to the Academy Awards show. Peter Espersen from LEGO talked about their online community and how they are blessed with dedicated fans all over the world that help build the brand of LEGO.
The last speakers for the day way Clemence Dopjans from Adidas, Germany, and David Eriksson from North Kingdom who told us the story behind the success with the campaign for Adidas Teamgeist for the worldcup 2010.
All presenters were of course extremly interesting and inspiring putting new thoughts in all of our heads. Now I have two more inspiring days to go as the summit continues today and tomorrow.
Euro Mine Expo 2010 is over, Euro Mine Expo 2012 here we go!
Written juni 14th, 2010 by inger
Last week was the second Euro Mine Expo ever held in Skellefteå and with more than doubling the exhibitors and delegates from the first time it must be considered a success. This year the expo was held at Skellefteå Kraft Arena and the conference took place in the adjacent building, Folkparken.
VIA had a booth in the A-hall together with Invest Sweden and Invest in Norrbotten and we are really pleased with the outcome of the expo. We got to meet several interesting and, from our point of view, important contacts during the three days that the expo lasted. We also got a lot of attention for the multi-touch screen from Nuiteq that we had in our booth displaying information about all the mines in Sweden, the ores, the companies and much more.
I do think I dare say that most of the exhibitors did indeed get the chance to talk to interesting contacts, some times it was other exhibiting companies and other times it was just visiting company representatives who worked the floor. It was quite gratifying to hear that some of our neighbouring exhibitors closed deals with clients and were more than happy to be here.
To be honest we did great and Skellefteå did once again show off its’ glory with the sun shining, the river welcoming and the people being open and friendly. So now we already look forward to Euro Mine Expo 2012, it will be held 12-14 of June 2012, in Skellefteå of course!
ScandMedTech 2010
Written maj 27th, 2010 by bjorn
ScandMedTech in Copenhagen http://www.scandmedtech.com/eng/index_eng.html is an interesting conference with tradeshow. The tradeshow, that I am visiting, has some 80 exhibitors including companies such as Siemens Healthcare, Philips Medico, GE Healthcare, Covidien and Cook Medical. I have found the trade show a good place to meet with Scandinavian repesentatives.
Preparing the VIP-activities for Euro Mine Expo
Written maj 21st, 2010 by inger
I’m currently working with the planning and preparations for the VIP-activities connected to the Euro Mine Expo in Skellefteå 8-10 of June. The whole Expo is going to be a great event, it’s more than doubled it’s size from the previous year and there’s a long waiting list for exhibitors who weren’t quick enough to book their booth at the trade show. We are really looking forward to the second week in June and we all keep our fingers crossed that the sun will shine that whole week and Skellefteå will be able to show its’ best side.
Welcome to Euro Mine Expo 2010 this June, to learn more about Europe’s largest trade-show for mining and exploration visit their site www.euromineexpo.se
Keeping up the high pace and planning for Euromine Expo
Written maj 17th, 2010 by inger
It will be an intesive spring and beginning of the summer for our team, or maybe we should say that the high pace will continue just as before. This week Anders has been down to Italy where he, part from experiencing the dreadful raining, visited the Green building and Solar Expo in Verona.
Björn has travelled across the Atlantic and visited BIO2010 in Chicago together with our North American representative, Kerstin Nicholson.
At the moment I spend most of my time planning for the events this June, the EuroMine Expo where VIA together with Invest in Norrbotten and Invest Sweden will have a booth to present the mining nation Sweden. I really look forward to that event and I’m sure it will be a success. All the floor space at the exhibition are since long sold out. We will also offer our international guests the possibility of relaxing in the lounge on the top floor. There are other fun and exciting activities planned as well but I won’t tell you all about it just now, some will be a secret for the time being. Soon enough you’ll find out.
Important visit and a new trainee onboard VIA
Written maj 3rd, 2010 by inger
This morning we had a brief visit from one of our newest investors who’s really excited to move to Västerbotten and set up the business here. We will tell you more about this interesting company shortly and why they’ve decided that this is the place to be.
Today we also welcome our new trainee, Ibrahim Al-Hassany, who will join the VIA-team for the next three months. Ibrahim will bring his administrational skills to the team and also get to know the world of IPA’s.
Flexibility during unsure flight connections
Written april 26th, 2010 by olle
With quite amount of persistency I finally arrived Munich around midnight Wednesday. Not surprising the number of visitors at Bauma were quite few so VIA had a lot of attention. The investment levels forcasted for Northern Scandinavia meet great interest from all continents and I am sure that Euro Mine Expo in June will have increased international participation. Around 40 companies requested more information in different areas and the main objective will be to support those companies with there requests.
Arrived home Suturday evening and after supporting one Pakistanian investor by phone it was nice to take a rest for 24 hours.
We made it to Munich and Warzaw
Written april 22nd, 2010 by inger
Now all the guys are finally at the expos that they were to suppose to be at. Anders made it to Warzaw early this morning and Olof got down to Munich yesterday, Björn is still in Germany at Hannover Messe. They will stay this week and we keep our fingers crossed that they’ll be able to fly home according to plan this weekend.
Hannover Messe 2010
Written april 21st, 2010 by bjorn
This years Hannover Messe is really marked by the cancelled flights. A number of booths are empty. But the spirit is good. There are still over 4000 exhibitors and some of the halls are almost crowded at times. After my first day, I can already say that it has been worth the trip.
A new colleague has joined us
Written april 21st, 2010 by inger
Since a few weeks back the VIA-team has been strengthened by one more person, we now have Serena Lai working together with us. Serena will first and foremost be focusing on the Chinese market and help us with the contacts there.
The ash cloud stops our travel plans
Written april 19th, 2010 by inger
I don’t think that anyone has missed the latest events with the Icelandic volcano and the ash could that has put stop to more or less all of the air traffic in Europe this last week. Unfortunately that means that all of our planned trips this week have been cancelled, which is very ill-timed since week 16 would have been our most busy travel week this spring.
Anders was suppose to fly out to Birmingham today for the Sustainability live expo, Olof and Inger were planned to visit Hannover Messe and Bauma in Munich but due to the closed airports these travels have all been cancelled. Björn was originally heading to Interphex in New York, now his plans are changed and he will instead visit the Hannover Messe.
Now we follow the development of the volcano eruption as eagerly as everyone else in Europe and hope that the skies will clear up soon.
VIA treads on a new media path
Written april 19th, 2010 by inger
Västerbotten Investment Agency (VIA) has the ambition to give our contacts, clients and investors the best service possible and one way of doing that is information sharing. We think that it is important to combine our business related news on the website with a healthy dose of internal news from within the VIA ranks. So, from now on we will give you some inside info about our daily work, we hope you will enjoy it.
If we haven’t met before, we look forward to seeing you in the future.
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