In this issue:

September 2005

Labor Day traditionally marks the end of summer. Like it or not, the pace of the City will soon quicken, as will our own. This will also be the case of the DACCNY, which began the second half of 2005 with meetings with Denmark's outgoing Ambassador to the United States (September 9th) and the Danish Foreign Minister (September 21st); thereafter proceeding through a busy October and November and ending with our annual Christmas Luncheon (December 9th).

As the activities of the DACCNY continue to expand, it is important to remember that the greater its membership is, the more it can do. The Members of the DACCNY are urged to look around their circle of business contacts and acquaintances and encourage those who might be interested in joining our organization to contact Nargis McGuinness (tel.: 212 705 4945; e-mail narmcg@um.dk).

I look forward to seeing you during our busy autumn.

Meetings in the Chamber

On Wednesday, September 21st, 2005 the Danish American Chamber of Commerce hosted a meeting with Danish Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr. Per Stig Møller. In his speech and Q&A round the Minister touched upon various relations between Denmark and the US such as trade, the trade balance, politics and the economy as well as such issues as double citizenship and the lack of the right to vote in Danish elections for Danish citizens living in the US.

On Friday, September 9th 2005 from 12-2.30 pm the Danish American Chamber of Commerce hosted a luncheon with Danish Ambassador to the United States, Ulrik Federspiel, at the New York Athletic Club in which Ambassador Federspiel gave an analysis of the political and economic changes in Washington over the past five years.

On Wednesday, September 31st 2005 from 6-8 pm the Swedish American Chamber of Commerce in cooperation with the other Nordic Chambers hosted "The Business of Fashion" event at H&M in SoHo. Speakers were Sanna Lindberg (Country Manager), Janke Nystrom (Marketing Director) and Frederik Olsson (Director of Merchandising), all from H&M. The speakers gave a brief overview of the company's sales and marketing strategies, branding, and product development.

On August 10th 2005 at 6 pm The German American Chamber of Commerce in association with a number of other European chambers of commerce hosted a Young European Executives Networking Event. Guest speaker was Olivia Fox Cabane, Executive Director of Spitfire Communications, who gave tips on how to make the most of a networking event. For further information on how to become a networking shark, please visit www.spitfireteam.com.

DACC Business Directory and Advantages

The DACC business directory is now available to our members online. If you have not already gotten the link please contact Nargis McGuinness.

If you have any corrections or comments, please send them to daccny@daccny.com.

The website furthermore offers the passwords to the various offers on Danish Design items available to DACC members. Participating companies are:

• Icelandair
• Bang & Olufsen
• Carl Hansen & Søn
• GUBI
• Fredericia Furniture
• Erik Bagger
• Normann Copenhagen

Welcome to New Consul General Torben Gettermann

On September 1st, 2005 the Royal Danish Consulate General welcomed a new Consul General, Ambassador Torben Gettermann, who has a long and distinguished career with the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Ambassador Gettermann comes to New York from Baghdad, where he has spent the past two years building an Embassy and diplomatic relations in chaotic surroundings.

Ambassador Gettermann has held leading positions in the Ministry's Departments for Trade and Finance and has taken several posts abroad in Saudi Arabia, Mexico, Hungary, Latvia, Greece, and Iraq. Maintaining and strengthening the ties with Danish companies in the United States will be one of the important areas on which Ambassador Torben Gettermann will focus as Consul General in New York. Attracting new Danish companies to the huge American market place will be another important priority. The positive development in the Danish exports to the US over the last few years shows that there is an excellent potential for growth. This will hopefully be a good incentive for new exporters to consider the possibilities the American market has to offer.

The Danish American Chamber of Commerce welcomes Ambassador Gettermann and his family to their new post in New York and looks forward to cooperating with the Ambassador on the many future DACC events, and in particular on October's DACC meeting, where Ambassador Gettermann will be the guest speaker. The meeting will take place at the Royal Danish Consulate General on October 26th from 5 to 7 pm, so save the date and sign up now.

Fra lille Danmark til The Big Apple

Som den nye sømandspræst i sømandskirken i New York har jeg her fornøjelsen af at præsentere mig selv og min familie for Det Danske Handelskammer i New York.

Det var en gammel drengedrøm, der gik i opfyldelse for mig, da jeg af kirkerådet blev udpeget som den nye sømandspræst. Min fascination af USA i almindelighed og af New York i særdeleshed går mange år tilbage. USA har, så længe jeg kan huske, stået for mig som noget helt særligt. Stort og anderledes, men samtidig venligt og beskyttende. En ven af Danmark og af danskerne. Jeg har i det hele taget haft et mangeårigt ønske om på et eller andet tidspunkt at komme til udlandet og virke som præst for danskere i udlandet. Min egen familie tæller både søfolk og tidligere au-pair, ligesom min kone Kiann og jeg har boet længere perioder i udlandet, og jeg ved derfor, hvor vigtigt det er for danskere i udlandet at have et kirkeligt og socialt samlingspunkt. Og det er netop dette jeg ser som min vigtigste opgave som sømandspræst. Jeg glæder mig til, at skulle betjene de danske skibe, der ankommer til New York og til at skulle være præst for de mange forskellige danskere, der bor i byen, og jeg vil lægge megen vægt på, at skabe et godt og åbent menighedsliv i og omkring Den Danske Sømandskirke.

Som præst lægger jeg meget vægt på, at kirken er rummelig.
Et sted for alle.
Både for kirkevante og kirkefremmede.
Det er i mine øjne vigtigt, at kirken dels tør stå fast på sit evangelisk-lutherske budskab og dels formidle dette budskab, så det henvender sig til folk, dér hvor de er.

Disse principper ser jeg det som min opgave at holde fast i som præst.

Jeg er cand. theol. fra Aarhus Universitet, og har de sidste seks og et halvt år virket som sognepræst ved Hellebæk og Hornbæk kirker. Kiann er cand. scient. pol. fra Aarhus Universitet og er p.t. på orlov fra sit job i Finansministeriets Digitale Taskforce. Vi har Agnes på tre og lille nyfødte Johannes.

Min familie og jeg skal bo i New York de næste fire år. Jeg ankom den 15. september og menigheden har taget utroligt godt imod mig og har været meget hjælpsomme. Resten af familien ankommer i begyndelsen af oktober. De glæder sig meget til at komme til New York og møde menigheden og vi ser frem til en spændende tid. Vi lægger meget vægt på at komme som en præstefamilie. Kiann og jeg er begge udadvendte mennesker og vil lægge vægt på begge at gå ind i arbejdet i og omkring kirken. Selv vores datter Agnes på tre bedyrer, at hun eeeelsker Amerika. Måske særligt efter, at jeg fortalte hende, at der var flere McDonald´s i Amerika, end i noget andet land i verden. Vi ser ligeledes frem til, at deltage i de aktiviteter, der allerede foregår i kirken og tage den tradition til os, der allerede er grundlagt. Samtidig tager vi også selv gerne initiativ til at skabe nye aktiviteter og traditioner.

De næste store begivenheder i kirken bliver dels indvielsen af den nyrenoverede sømandskirke og den årlige julebasar.

Indvielsen finder sted ved en indvielsesgudstjeneste søndag den 16. oktober kl. 11.00. Biskop over Københavns Stift Erik Normann Svendsen vil forestå indvielsen, hvorefter generalsekretær for danske Sømands- og udlandskirker Margith Pedersen indsætter sømandspræsten og sømandspræsten holder derefter sin indsættelsesprædiken. Da kun kirkerummet vil være færdig til den 16. oktober og resten af kirken stadig er ufærdig, kan der desværre kun være 70 mennesker i kirken. Derfor skal man tilmelde sig indvielsesgudstjenesten skriftligt ved at udfylde en tilmeldelsesblanket, der sendes ud til menigheden pr. brev.

Julebasaren løber af stabelen den 18. og 19. november. Vi starter fredag den 18. november, hvor der er åbent fra 17.00 - 19.00 og fortsætter hele lørdag den 19. november. Julebasaren er ét stort eldorado af alt, hvad der er dansk. Her kan man få dansk mad, slik, kager, smørrebrød, hot dogs, øl, æbleskiver, håndarbejde, o.s.v. o.s.v. Og i anledning af H.C. Andersens 200 års fødselsdag har vi i år også en særlig H.C. Andersen bod.

Julebasaren er uden sammenligning kirkens største årlige begivenhed. Den er en stor oplevelse, og vi håber, at rigtig mange vil lægge vejen forbi julebasaren i år.

Alle er hjerteligt velkomne.

Venlig hilsen

Kristian Hein
Sømandspræst

Icelandic Takeover - from Air Traffic to Electronics

In April 2005 Sterling, which is now owned by Icelandic investment company Fons Eignarhaldsfelag, took over Maersk Air for a little over $60 million. The two airlines might already change owners again, as the Icelandic investment company FL Group has expressed interest in either investing in Sterling and Maersk Air, who are in the process of merging, or purchasing the two airlines. "The discussion is in the initial phase, and the result so far uncertain" reads a statement from the Icelandic stock exchange. FL Group already owns Icelandair and Air Iceland as well as 13.01 percent of EasyJet.

Now yet another Danish Business in the red is being taken over by Icelandic companies. The Icelandic consortium consisting of Baugur Group, Milestone Invesment Group and Icelandic investment company Árdegi, took over the Danish electronics chain Merlin from FDB on September 16th. Baugur Group already owns the two major Copenhagen department stores Magasin and Illum with Icelandic investment back Straumur Investment Bank and B2B Holdings.

Goodbye to VP of SAS North America, Jørgen Hoe-Knudsen

Congratulations Jørgen Hoe-Knudsen on your retirement!

Every time we reach a milestone in our lives we stop and reflect on the past and how we arrived at our current place.

SAS hopes you realize how hard you have worked to achieve what you have.

You worked very hard during your stewardship inaugurating both the Washington service and the Late Flight; and later after a brief discontinuation, reviving the Late Flight; and we hope some day it will be back again.

You always tried to be the best in the very sense of the word. SAS highly respects your accomplishments and wishes you all the best life has to offer.

The hummel chevron is back!

Since May 2005 hummel has reinvented their presence in the United States. New management has paid dividend to the aggressive reemergence of Hummel America.

Old School zip jackets, pants and t-shirts - these styles are the heart and soul of hummel. They've been an integral part of our success ever since our adventure in the world of sports fashion took its beginning just before the turn of the Millennium. Featuring the well-known hummel trademark chevron tape and gravity-defying bumblebee, our Old School products are available in stores around the world.

We want to be much more than just a tracksuit - so it is great to see Lisa Marie Presley wear hummel track pants for an evening out at the Fashion Rocks event in New York last week or that the Intermix store pair us with Stilettos!

For years the luxe sportswear has been a firm favorite with fashion conscious celebrities like Paris Hilton, Carmen Electra, Nelly Furtado, Jennifer Lopez, Ashley Simpson, Viggo Mortensen, Robbie Williams to name but a few. The embodiment of this success came when Hummel received Sportswear International's award for 'best athletic women's collection' alongside the nomination for the 2005 Global Sportstyle Award.

Hummel fashion has steadily increased national distribution within the US and our signature chevrons can be found in numerous boutiques and department stores across the country.

For further questions or information on where to buy the product please contact 212 431 2270.

New York Gift Show

The Royal Danish Consulate General is exhibiting twice a year at the New York International Gift Fair (NYIGF). This year the Danish Consulate together with a consulting company in Denmark had selected four Danish up-and-coming design firms, which exhibited in the Danish booth at the recent NYIGF under the name Living Design Alliance.

Living Design Alliance represents the four following firms:

Rikke Jakobsen
The Pet Project
Seidenfaden
Zali

All of the firms are acknowledged in Denmark and are now setting their sights on a wider audience. The home is the point of departure for these designers, who with their individual style and renewal of tradition could one day become the new Danish design classics. All four firms were received with great enthusiasm by the American buyers and were very successful.

Besides the Living Design Alliance group eight other Danish firms were represented in the Danish booth:

KCA Designers Company
Silkeborg of Denmark
Maplewood Design by Smel ApS
Tivoli Home
Wincorp International, Inc.
DBA Enzer Electronics
Falby og Mogensen I/S
U-designs Llc.

Overall everybody enjoyed a great show. By participating in the Danish booth at various tradeshows in the US, both new and established Danish companies have an opportunity to be represented on the American market in a well-organized and economic way.

For further information regarding the above mentioned, please feel free to contact Benthe Montalvo, e-mail: benmon@um.dk.

Upcoming Meetings - Save the Dates

On October 12th from 5-6.30 pm Shipco will host a DACC board meeting at its headquarter in Hoboken, New Jersey.

On Wednesday, October 26th members of the Danish American Chamber of Commerce will have the opportunity to meet with New York's new Consul General to hear about the two years he spent in Iraq opening a Danish representation in Baghdad and helping to build crucial diplomatic relationships.

On Wednesday, November 9th the Danish American Chamber of Commerce invites its Sustaining Members representatives to a special dinner meeting at the Consul General's residence. Printed invitations will be sent out.

On Friday, December 9th the DACC will host its annual Christmas Luncheon, which again this year, will take place at the Harvard Club of New York City, 35 West 44th Street. Please sign up at your earliest convenience.

PLEASE NOTE: Undeniably, a major part of the annual DACC Christmas Luncheon is the substantial number of great raffle gifts sponsored by the DACC members. If your company would like to sponsor a gift, be it products from the company or the purchase of a separate gift, please let us know at your earliest convenience.