Viking Magazine - September 2013 - 38

Q&A
Taking Care of Business
Norway's American Chamber of Commerce supports
transatlantic ventures. BY ANYA BRITZIUS
T
hough he doesn't have
Norwegian roots,
Jason Turfl inger is a
key player in helping develop
Norwegian-American business
relations. For the past 10 years,
he has been the managing
director at the American
Chamber of Commerce
(AmCham) in Norway. Hailing
from Indiana, Turfl inger
graduated from the University
of South Florida with a political
science degree. A friendship
with a Telemark native spurred
his desire to live in Norway
after college. He moved to Oslo
to work as a consultant and
eventually joined AmCham as
a full-time employee in 2003.
Viking spoke with Turfl inger
about the organization and
its collaboration with Sons
of Norway's web portal
NorwayConnects.
Q Tell us about AmCham.
A AmCham is comprised of
230 member companies from
22 industries. We've grown
for the past decade, yet we're
still a small nonprofi t offi ce.
Our mission is to promote and
facilitate business between
Norway and America. We do
this through regular events of
all shapes and sizes, via a range
of member-to-member offerings
and through advocacy work on
38 VIKING SEPTEMBER 2013
behalf of groups of members.
We're active primarily in Oslo
and Stavanger.
Q What are your duties as
managing director?
A My duties include much of
the back offi ce stuff that's not
directly tied to the promotion
of Norway-U.S. business. I'm
privileged that my duties also
include quite a bit of strategy
work with the inspiring members
of our board, liaising regularly
with both United States and
Norwegian government offi cials,
learning about member company
operations from the inside out,
and reminding all who will listen
why the ties of international
business are so important.
Q How will AmCham's
partnership with Norway
Connects.org be benefi cial?
A AmCham is not a personnel
or education exchange bureau,
but we do strongly support our
members' and partners' efforts.
Sons of Norway has stepped up
in a big way and made it easier
for Norway-based businesses
to get on the student-universitycompany
bandwagon that we
nearly take for granted in the
United States. We'll do our part
to both contribute to
and promote this very
timely undertaking.
sonsofnorway.com
Q What should Sons of
Norway members know
about AmCham?
A All United States-Norway
interest groups and associations,
whether we admit it or not, are
in this together. There's a very
limited amount of bandwidth
out there for what our groups
do. More time spent on joint
initiatives will enable us to
more readily achieve our goals.
AmCham stands ready to work
hand in hand with our Sons of
Norway friends.
Q What are AmCham's
future goals?
A Continued development of
our member service offerings,
systematic growth of our
membership roster and, perhaps
most importantly, raising
awareness on how international
companies contribute to
Norway in so many ways.
Learn more about the American Chamber of Commerce in Norway at amcham.no.
Name:
Jason Turfl inger
Title: Managing
Director at the American
Chamber of
Commerce in Norway
Hometown:
Fort Wayne, Ind.
Current City:
Oslo, Norway
http://www.Connects.org http://www.amcham.no http://www.sonsofnorway.com
Viking Magazine - September 2013

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