In Sweden, Michigan is the belle of the ball

When Michigan talks, Sweden listens.

Or so it seems as a delegation of bioeconomy researchers, state government officials and business executives traveled from Detroit to Lulea, Sweden, a town just south of the Arctic Circle on Aug. 13.

The Michigan group has 12 days of non-stop meetings with their Swedish counterparts to discuss how the country and the state can use the competitive advantages of each to create thriving bioproducts industries, especially in biofuels and biochemicals.

Traveling from Michigan to Lulea takes almost 24 hours (factoring in the time difference) and includes stops in Amsterdam and Stockholm. At each European airport, the Michigan delegation became the equivalent of bioeconomy rock stars: company executives and chamber of commerce officials seemed to sense the Michiganders had arrived and stepped up to offer greetings and ask to be added to the already packed agenda.

Both Michigan and Sweden have vast forest resources that could provide raw material for biorefineries. By combining the two entities' university knowledge, venture capitalism and business opportunities, they could forge a powerful bioeconomy alliance.

Doug Parks, vice president of strategic initiatives for the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC), the group that organized the trip, graciously accommodated all meeting requests.

"We're flexible," he said. "We want to build relationships."

The MSU scientists agreed.

"This is an excellent opportunity for Michigan," said Steve Pueppke, director of the MSU Office of Biobased Technologies. "We're happy to meet with everyone."

Besides Pueppke and Parks, the Michigan group includes: Michigan State scientists Kris Berglund, University Distinguished professor of forestry and chemical engineering; and Ray Miller, director of the Upper Peninsula Tree Improvement Center; Martin Dober, who oversees strategic initiatives regarding cellulosic biofuels for the MEDC; Donna LaCourt, Michigan state forester; Dave Reed and David Shonnard from Michigan Technological University; and Michael Fornetti and David Oliver, executives from the NewPage Corporation, a paper company with a mill in Michigan.

So the gentleman from the Swedish-American Chamber of Commerce was added to the schedule, as were the two CEOs that found the Michigan group near the luggage carrousel in Lulea. All this after only four hours in the country. The next 10 days should be interesting.