The football World Cup dominates the talks and engages many of us in a way that few other events can. But at the same time, a much more important match is taking place outside the football field. A more uncertain world situation places new demands on energy supply, robust supply chains and regional cooperation.
What a few years ago were visions of the future have today become concrete investments to strengthen not only Ludvika-Smedjebacken’s resilience and competitiveness, but that of the entire region.
The fact that we are in the middle of the football World Cup characterizes many of our daily conversations and it probably feels as if the night’s sleep is getting shorter and shorter. Sweden was almost world champion after the match against Tunisia, but after Holland, well then it was perhaps not as positive. In order to consider the football World Cup as a geopolitical circumstance, you probably have to be very devoted. But outside the football field, geopolitics is a highly tangible reality that affects both the development of society and our own activities. The conversations about “resilience” in various contexts feel like the new “must”. Certainly a necessary and useful awakening, but sad that it is crises that so often have to be done for us to take clear development steps. The doctor/psychiatrist Johan Cullberg wrote a book “Kris och utveckling” many years ago, which in summary was about the individual and if it handles a crisis in the right way, it can lead to positive change. Maybe that’s how we should look at our present.
Now, today, we continue work on a new project, Innovative energy resilience, where we both refine and create new resilience and future-proof parts of Smedjebacken. In my vision “downstream project” I want to see a linking of all hydropower plants after Kolbäcksån, down to Lake Mälaren. This would be a nationally interesting project where Ludvika Smedjebacken is first in the “nutrition chain”.
A few weeks ago I attended a conference in Stockholm, where the focus was on the importance of hydropower for Sweden’s energy supply. One issue that was raised was the difficulty in obtaining components and spare parts for the electricity, power and district heating systems. I then told them that we have a well-developed supplier network that is used to deliver demanding components and spare parts for these sectors. This attracted great national interest, so now we are working on the development of what is called High Voltage Valley Supplier network.
Much of our work is, of course, characterized by the actual expansion that continues in our area with Hitachi as the large locomotive. Here is actual expansion. With filled order books, unlike many other high-profile “in-progress” establishments where forecasts and hopes “control”.
One of our work areas that is really affected by all recruitments is our Move-in service With relocation and co-moving service. When I started at Samarkand, we counted the number of fellow movers in the few, now the hundreds are an actual number. The business is very important for immigrants to feel well received and get off to a good start in Ludvika-Smedjebacken. This is greatly appreciated by the immigrants themselves as well as by the employers, who are keen that their recruits thrive and stay in the village. Together with other areas at work with, for example infrastructure, educational initiatives and development and support for the social enterprises, we want to contribute to this very thing – a good place to live and live.
I’ll stay here, because it’s soon kick-off in some game again. It takes a lot of space now, football, but we then have to remind you of the old legendary football leader Bill Shankly in Liverpool who said “Those who say that football is a battle between life and death must be crazy, It is much more important than that”.
Have a nice summer, but unfortunately I don’t think we get to experience a new 1994, to cope with that, the Swedish defense must become much more resilient.
/ Lars Lindblom, CEO Samarkand2015 and High Voltage Valley