DACC President Torben Aaskov appeared on DR TV-Avisen, November 6^th

DR (Danish national television) covered the Danish American Innovation Award 2009 in Santa Monica, November 5^th, hosted by the Danish-American Chamber of Commerce of Southern California (DACC). Click the picture below to see the news clip from the event and the interview with DACC President Torben Aaskov (the news clip is in Danish and will open in a new window).

IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Henrik Fisker to Receive Danish American Innovation Award 2009 for his Visionary Launch of the Plug-in Hybrid Sports Car Karma

Danish Ambassador to the US, Honorable Friis Arne Petersen to present The Danish American Innovation Award 2009 to Henrik Fisker

Los Angeles, California, November 5, 2009—The Danish-American Chamber of Commerce of Southern California (DACC), today announced the winner of the Danish American Innovation Award 2009. The award selection was based on an individual providing outstanding contributions and innovation addressing critical issues with a new approach within the Danish and American communities.

This year, DACC is proud to announce Henrik Fisker, CEO and lead designer of Fisker Automotive, as the 2009 award winner. Fisker Automotive is a new American manufacturer of premium green vehicles that do not compromise power, style or performance to be eco-friendly.

Being a native Dane, Henrik Fisker was nominated for his outstanding contribution bringing the innovative, green, plug-in hybrid Karma sedan to market. “We were both impressed with Mr. Fisker’s design and vision for the Karma as well as his company’s revolutionary business model launching a new American automobile company,” says Torben Aaskov, President of the Danish-American Chamber of Commerce of Southern California. Fisker Automotive’s business model is based on outsourced engineering, components and manufacturing focusing mainly on design and marketing activities in-house. “This is truly a first for the industry and one we believe will transform and modernize the US competitiveness in the auto industry,” Torben Aaskov continues.

The award ceremony will take place on November 5th, 2009 at Fisker Santa Monica, CA — the first Fisker showroom and part of LAcarGUY.com family of dealers. The award will be presented by the Danish Ambassador to the United States, Honorable Friis Arne Petersen, “With Denmark being a leading nation of renewable energy initiatives and leadership in a green approach, I’m honored to present Henrik Fisker with the Danish American Innovation Award. Mr. Fisker has for years been a leading designer in the auto industry Worldwide. With his introduction of the Karma as the most advanced environmentally friendly sports car, the nomination was an obvious one,” the Danish Ambassador adds.

Fisker Automotive was recently approved for a conditional loan of $528 million by the U.S. Department of Energy. “I am honored to receive this award on behalf of the entire Fisker Automotive team.  It is a testament to our mission and commitment to excellence. Fisker Automotive’s goals are to help restore the U.S. as a leader in the global auto industry and to eliminate America’s dependence on foreign oil.” says Henrik Fisker, CEO of Fisker Automotive. “We are also developing affordable, plug-in hybrid vehicles we estimate will save more than 821 million gallons of gasoline (43.2 million barrels of oil) by 2016,” he continues.

The award cocktail reception is taking place on November 5th, 2009 in Santa Monica at the LAcarGUY’s showroom at 7:00 PM-9:30 PM. Union Bank is the platinum sponsor of the Danish American Innovation Award 2009. Please visit www.daccsocal.com to register for the event.

PRESS CONTACTS:

DACC:

Crux Communications for Danish American Chamber of Commerce

Charlotte Rubin, +1.858.775.7621, charlotte.rubin@cruxcomms.com

FISKER AUTOMOTIVE:

Russell Datz, +1.714.888.4255, rdatz@fiskerautomotive.com

About DACC

The Danish-American Chamber of Commerce of Southern California is the premier Danish-American business networking organization in Southern California. Our goal is to serve as a forum for the exchange of valuable business information and ideas. We work hard at creating opportunities for our Danish and American member corporations as well as individual business professionals. We offer a great venue for growing business and personal network for our members, and for expanding their business knowledge. More info at www.daccsocal.com

Presented by:
Danish-American Chamber of Commerce of Southern California (DACC)

This year, DACC is proud to announce Henrik Fisker, CEO and automobile designer, Fisker Automotive as the 2009 winner of the Danish American Innovation Award. Henrik Fisker was nominated for his outstanding contribution bringing the innovative, green, environmentally friendly hybrid sports car Karma to market.

Award Reception:

• Welcome by Torben Aaskov, President, DACC
• Award presentation by Friis Arne Petersen, The Danish Ambassador to the United States
• Preview of the Fisker Karma sports car with Henrik Fisker, CEO, Fisker Automotive

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DACC General Membership Meeting 2009 was a reflection on all the things DACC has done over the years. As the Chamber looks to the future in these challenging economic times, we paused to remember the past in order to appreciate and learn from it. At the same time we honored our past Presidents.

Christian Castenskiold, one of the founding fathers of the DACC, took the audience back in time when DACC was founded in 1976, at that time it was named DACC Los Angeles. He emphasized that the story actually goes further back, because the founding was inspired by the Luncheon Club in New York. That club was founded in 1931 and was for many years a center of Danish traditions; it was actually the only Danish club in New York up to 1964. Per Hækkerup, Foreign Minister at that time, suggested forming a Danish-American Trade Council, and a few years later it joined together with the old Luncheon Club and was named DACC.

A good start

Then in 1976, on the 31st of January, DACC in Los Angeles was founded by Gorm Larsen(1st President), Tommy Thomsen, Kenneth Hansen, Roy Bork, Bent Christensen and Christian Castenskiold. On May 24th 1976 DACC hosted a lunch for the Royal couple in connection with the U.S Centennial Celebration. The luncheon was a great success with more than 600 guests.

- The spirit from that first lunch meeting gave us a good start, and our purpose was defined “to stimulate and promote goodwill, trade, and business relations between United States and Denmark”, Christian Castenskiold told the audience at the General Membership Meeting.

Christian Castenskiold was President of the DACC Los Angeles from 1980 to 1984. Furthermore, he was President of the DACC in the Western United States which included L.A, San Francisco, Seattle, Portland and Denver from 1984 to 1988.

DACC Presidents (left to right)
- Christian Castenskiold (founder and President 1980-1984),
- Mette Haydt (President 1991-1994), – Torben Aaskov(President 2008-present),
- Soren Eilertsen (President 2006-2008),
- Robert Lord(President 1987-1989)

After 4 exciting years in Los Angeles, former Executive Director of Danish-American Chamber of Commerce of Southern California and Senior Trade Officer with the Trade Commission of Denmark, Los Angeles, Morten Grubert has relocated to Denmark. Back in Copenhagen Morten will pursue a career with Copenhagen Capacity, who was recently elected best regional investment agency in the world by the World Bank.

DACC as a catapult
Interestingly, Morten will bring his experiences from DACC as a catapult for new projects in Copenhagen as he has accepted the position as Head of Secretariat of the Copenhagen Goodwill Ambassador Corps. Established in 1996 by Copenhagen Capacity and Wonderful Copenhagen as an integral part of the marketing strategy for the capital region of Denmark, Copenhagen Goodwill Ambassador Corps is a global elite business network, who connects the world to Copenhagen by transforming goodwill to business opportunities bringing return on investment for stakeholders within biotech, cleantech, ITC, entertainment, and tourism. The purpose of the non-profit organization is to promote Copenhagen globally in order to attract international investments, conferences, events and tourism to the capital. These elements are achieved through an extensive network of goodwill ambassadors, who in their local region connect and build strong relations to corporate executives, investors, academic institutions and public figures. Since its foundation Copenhagen Goodwill Ambassador Corps has provided significant value to the city of Copenhagen with more than 200 completed projects and cases. The corps is present in 29 markets worldwide.

Served DACC for 4 years
“I strongly believe in the value DACC provide and see great similarities to the challenges and opportunities of DACC compared to the Goodwill Ambassador Corps. I am proud to have served DACC for almost 4 years and I am confident the organization will continue its great work. The Danish American Business Summit of course stands out as a remarkable achievement by the Board of Directors, but many other events are clear in memory from the visit of His Royal Highness Prince Joachim, The Scandinavian Super Mixer at W, company visits at Magellan, Union Bank, Legoland, and Danfoss, and even the Denmark vs. US soccer match, where only a late US goal “stole” the Danish soccer jersey signed by our national team from my hands in the “guess the result competition.”

“My time in California will always stand out as a remarkable period of my life. California is an amazing place, and I leave the door open for a potential return. Until then, do not hesitate to stop by Copenhagen Capacity on your next trip to Denmark.”

Past Event, 30 April 2009

The current economic crisis makes it extremely important to take precautions when doing investments; but there are opportunities, even in a down market. That was the message at a DACC hosted investment seminar with Union Bank of California in downtown Los Angeles.

Topic of the evening was how to navigate with investments in the current economic crisis. UnionBanc Investment Services and Nationwide Financial guided the audience through investment opportunities in the current climate. John Loder, Senior Financial Advisor at UnionBanc Investment Services, started by giving a market overview to point out what has happened so far and what to expect next.

Keep portfolio well-diversified

”Now what?” is the question that must be asked, according to John Loder.  2008 was a year for the record books, so he emphasized the importance of wariness and to play safe in the market, but also to keep the portfolio well-diversified. Even though the market is highly volatile, there are different ways to protect assets and grow investments at the same time. John Loder shared his investment ideas, including a description of fixed income investments and market linked CD’s.

On the agenda were also retirement investments presented by Jill Ravitz, Regional Vice President at Nationwide Financial. Deciding on the right strategy could be affected by a longevity risk, so make sure not to run out of money, she said.

John Loder and Jill Ravits reminded the audience of the good idea to seek counsel before making investment decisions.

Past Event, 30 March 2009

The economic crisis upon us calls for action, but what to do, how, and when, that were the major questions during a DACC hosted company presentation with PA Consulting in downtown Los Angeles. Topic of the evening was “Surviving and Thriving in the Economic Crisis”.

DACC members and guests met to analyze and discuss challenges and opportunities in the economy of today. The session opened with a presentation by Karl Peter Vilandt, Head of ERP Business Line in the US.

Karl Peter Vilandt made it clear that this is not business, or even recession as usual, the recession tends to be of a magnitude never seen before. The current economic crisis has already reached global proportions and is affecting corporate business and individual careers in an unprecedented manner.

Ahead of competition

“What can we do,” was the key question from Karl Peter Vilandt to the audience.  He stated that everyone needs to be proactive, assess and secure liquidity, even at some cost. Then look for opportunities, which will be huge for the liquid and bold. Karl Peter Vilandt highlighted that enterprises and entrepreneurs are forced to be innovative and to think in new ways to survive the constantly changing and worsening market conditions. Even in a crisis there are opportunities to be explored. According to Karl Peter Vilandt it is possible to gain market shares, and a crisis is a unique chance of getting ahead of the competition.

During a management workshop session Karl Peter Vilandt guided participants through a recession readiness assessment, with the aim of pin-pointing potential focus areas to secure liquidity and explore new market opportunities. The outcome was a good round table discussion about what makes winners and losers in a recession, but also how to act when being a Danish business leader in the U.S. Everyone seems to agree that being modest is not the right way to survive in a hard struggling business environment, yet Danish team values are still seen as an asset to bring along in business.

The workshop was followed by snacks and drinks for all participants and an opportunity for social networking.

If you would like to hear more about the topic “Surviving and Thriving in the Economic Crisis” please contact PA Consulting, Karl Peter Vilandt at karlpeter.vilandt@paconsulting.com.

International visitors to the U.S. from Visa Waiver Program countries are now required to apply for travel authorization online. Denmark is one of these countries. More information is available here:
http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/travel/id_visa/esta/

On the 19th. of February the Danish government are dicussing and voting for a proposal on allowing Danes living abroad to be granted dual citizenship. On this webpage you can get more information about this very interesting proposal:
http://www.statsborger.dk/