American Icelandic Chamber of Commerce Opens

On May 10, at a standing-room only event, the Board of Directors officially launched the American- Icelandic Chamber of Commerce. This was a seminal event in Icelandic-American relations and it demonstrated the depth and breadth of our economic ties as over 100 of Iceland’s most important business firms and organizations joined the Chamber. We were honored to have Foreign Minister Skarphéðinsson open the event along with the Mayor of Denver, Michael Hancock. Their remarks framed the importance of the bilateral relationship to both countries and highlighted the bright future and continued economic benefits it will bring to Icelanders and Americans.

Denver and Iceland connect

I took part in the whirlwind program organized by the City of Reykjavik, Icelandair, the Ministry of Economy, and the City of Akureyri to welcome Denver Mayor, Michael Hancock to Iceland. His delegation of business, state, and city leaders were here to launch Icelandair’s direct service to the Mile High City. While we had suspected that Denver’s dynamism and Colorado’s love for the outdoors, clean energy, and high tech industry would be a good fit with Iceland, we had not anticipated how quickly the delegation would connect with their Icelandic counterparts. Every member of the delegation was smitten with Iceland and the potential it has for business, cultural, and educational partnerships with Colorado. Denver will give Icelanders access to the Western part of the United States and many opportunities for strengthening people-to-people ties.