CREADIS: A Danish company on the rise in the U.S.

In less than five years, CREADIS has grown from being one to 15 employees across the U.S. With entrepreneurship in their DNA, global ambitions, and help from The Trade Council in North America, CREADIS is achieving the American dream. Now they are preparing for the next big step – expanding the business and entering new sectors in the U.S.

Back in 2016, CREADIS had longstanding ambitions to expand overseas for several reasons, but the most important being that the company could no longer accommodate expectations of growth in Denmark. Therefore, the goal of an overseas market came true in spring 2016 when CREADIS established offices in the U.S. with help from The Trade Council in North America (TCNA).

Before taking the leap and establishing a subsidiary in the U.S., the owners of CREADIS participated in an onshore wind delegation tour organized by TCNA. The purpose of the tour was to gain important insights of the U.S. market and explore if the value proposition of CREADIS’ unique expertise could position the firm for growth.

We had a presumption that if we could help customers in Denmark, we might be able to help them abroad as well. At the same time, the offshore wind market began to take shape – and we were already doing well on the onshore wind market. So, after a successful delegation tour, we decided to make the dream come true.

Torben Scheller President and CEO of CREADIS, USA

The trade council in north America has become a strategic partner

Entering a new market can be overwhelming, and the U.S. is a much larger market than Denmark, with many different legal, tax, geographical, and cultural nuances to take into account. As boots on the ground, TCNA provided assistance and guidance for CREADIS, so Torben Scheller, who at the time still was living in Denmark, could focus on their customers.

TCNA’s General Business Team helped CREADIS to incorporate a wholly-owned U.S. subsidiary with a local business address at the Consulate General of Denmark in Chicago as well as all administrative tasks, which included providing access to a local network of corporate attorneys, immigration lawyers, and accountants.

The Trade Council in North America was a great partner in the establishing phase. They provided a service that made it easy and painless for us to get started, so we could focus on the market and our customers instead of U.S. corporate law from day one.

Torben Scheller President and CEO of CREADIS, USA

With all practicalities completed, CREADIS deployed its entrepreneurial approach to business development by doing self-arranged location studies and analyzing the market even more. Today, CREADIS has offices in Chicago, Orlando, Seattle, and in the fall of 2019, an office in Boston was opened.

The proactive approach to the market and the partnership with TCNA has proven to be a good strategy for CREADIS in entering the U.S. wind market. In the first two years of the partnership, CREADIS participated in major U.S. wind fairs and conferences along with TCNA, and actively joined knowledge-exchange workshops where they expanded their network and met companies in the industry.

Furthermore, CREADIS have used TCNA to set up meetings for major U.S. wind conferences such as AWEA.

“Through the years we have improved our set-up so everyone knows their roles. We identify the companies we would like to talk to, and then TCNA helps us in gaining access to the right people in those companies – it works pretty well,” Torben Scheller explains.

Today, the partnership between CREADIS and TCNA is on a more strategic level, and from knowing very little about being a Danish company in the U.S., CREADIS is now able to share experiences with other Danish engineering companies who share the dream of entering the U.S. wind market.

Further Development and a new set-up in Boston

The opening of the Boston office is an attempt to increase CREADIS’ market share in the growing U.S. offshore wind market, but it is also a part of a larger strategic effort to continue growth and development of the company.

In the attempt to increase market share in offshore wind, CREADIS has developed a three-year plan, which is based on CREADIS’ entrepreneurial drive and an organic approach to business development. Therefore, the plan has three important drivers: continued support to onshore wind, industrial design, and promotion of services outside the wind industry – which they already do, for instance, at a major U.S. amusement park.

With the know-how and experience, Torben Scheller is convinced that CREADIS can also take part in other sectors within three years – if they succeed in the offshore wind market.

“In the future, we want to become a part of the technology environment in the U.S., as we see opportunities for CREADIS within the life science market. Our set-up in Boston primarily deals with the growing offshore wind market in the U.S., but Boston is also a giant technology and innovation hub which might create new markets for CREADIS,” Torben Scheller finishes.

FACTBox About Creadis

CREADIS is a U.S. subsidiary to the Danish engineering company DIS.
DIS/CREADIS is represented in Denmark, Germany, Poland, Spain, and the U.S, and has a total of 17 departments worldwide.
The company embraces mechanical, software, hardware, electrical and automation engineering services.