{"id":12140,"date":"2022-12-09T08:08:42","date_gmt":"2022-12-09T07:08:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/flyttatillboden.se\/?p=12140"},"modified":"2023-10-17T13:05:16","modified_gmt":"2023-10-17T11:05:16","slug":"citizen-of-the-year-yes-i-have-three-full-time-jobs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/flyttatillboden.se\/en\/citizen-of-the-year-yes-i-have-three-full-time-jobs\/","title":{"rendered":"Citizen of the Year: \u201cYes, I have three full-time jobs\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Keep calm and carry on. So says the writing on the wall in the Handal family\u2019s home in Harads, next to pictures of the children and the citizen of the year awards for both Boden and Edefors. The wall symbolically highlights the life and pride of entrepreneur Juan Handal.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Juan Handal leads a hectic life, he\u2019s constantly on the go. He juggles four different companies and has a seemingly inexhaustible drive. Some time ago the Edefors region, which consists of 13 villages in the northwestern part of Boden municipality, named him the Edefors Man of the Year. At the 2022 Business Gala in Boden, he was named Boden\u2019s Person of the Year, by popular vote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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He meets us at Harads\u2019 newly opened eatery Svantes Bistro & Caf\u00e9. Juan is a co-owner of Svantes Vilt & B\u00e4r, the company responsible for reviving the old, historic caf\u00e9 building that houses the bistro \u2013 one of Handal\u2019s 17 properties. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He also runs a laundry and cleaning company, for the same simple reason he runs the bistro – its services are needed in the area. Sometimes he goes straight from one job to go and wash dishes, help his staff and talk to the guests at the other. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201dYes, I have three full-time jobs. I probably walk 18,000 steps in a day. When I haven\u2019t had time to exercise, I go for a walk in the middle of the night. It\u2019s good when there are bright summer nights here. And I love cleaning at night\u201d, he says with a laugh. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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BUILDING A LONG-TERM TEAM<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

But later on, as he sits with his family in the autumn sun at home on the balcony, he is as calm and still just like the mirror-like Lule River that slowly slides by. He points out that it is important to take time to sit down and have coffee and be in the moment with his family, no matter how busy life is. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

His wife Rawan smiles and says that if he hadn\u2019t been allowed to work the way he does, he would have gone crazy, that\u2019s just the way he is. Together they are a strong team, they complement each other well. She works as a teacher at the school in the neighbouring village Svartl\u00e5, he\u2019s a multi-entrepreneur. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201dI can\u2019t believe it\u2019s true that it has gone so well. But it wouldn\u2019t have worked without with all the good people around me.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Juan sums up his recipe for success: it\u2019s about finding the right, the talented people, and getting them to enjoy their job enough to stay.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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STARTED A NEW LIFE<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

20 years ago he came to Harads as a newly arrived refugee from Palestine. The day before Christmas Eve, with temperatures at 33 below zero, his family were introduced to their new home. They had left family, friends and a large restaurant business because of the war. In Harads, they started from scratch. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201dI was 20 years old at the time and had grown up with war and unrest. I remember feeling that Sweden was calm and good, here I felt safe. This is how I want my children to grow up. The entire municipality of Boden is a good place in which to live and invest, and there is strong support from both politicians, companies and associations. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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LANGUAGE IS IMPORTANT <\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Rawan is also from Palestine, but they met in Sweden. At home, the family speaks Arabic. But Juan points out the importance of quickly learning the language and taking the local lifestyle to heart. In a small town it is easier, he says. He taught himself by working, listening and learning. At Svantes Vilt & B\u00e4r, he got to work with one of the company\u2019s experienced employees and learn everything he did. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Owner Svante Renberg saw young Juan\u2019s potential and the Renbergs became like a second family. Over the years, Juan became a co-owner together with Svante\u2019s four children, one of his sons has been Juan\u2019s closest colleague and friend since 2005. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201d This is where I\u2019ve built my future. I want to give everything I can back to that company and be the person Svante saw and wanted to give a chance.\u201d <\/em><\/p>\nJuan Handal<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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\u201dMY HEART BEATS FOR SVANTES\u201d <\/h3>\n\n\n\n

\u201dThis is where I have built my future. I want to give everything I can back to that company and be the person Svante saw and wanted to give a chance. I also want to give back to the olde generation who have built this country\u201d, says Juan. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Among his tenants, he has many seniors whom he takes care of and, among other things, he hosts a barbecue for them every year. Those who cannot come will have a lunch box delivered to the door. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

His phone interrupts the Sunday calm. A recently shot bear is on its way to Svantes Vilt & B\u00e4r and Juan has to go. He grabs a protein shake and a banana on his way out. Keep calm and carry on. # <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Text: Anna Bergstr\u00f6m \/ Photo: Mats Engfors<\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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FACTS <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

BUSINESS IN THE COUNTRYSIDE <\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Right now, there is a lot of growth in the central town of Boden, as well as viable industries and strong entrepreneurship in both of our river valleys. Here you can live and work with abundant free time and the magnificent natural world right on your doorstep, at all times of the year and day. One moment, you can work \u201dglocally\u201d, reaching the world from your desk. Moments later, you can go skiing or snowmobiling under the northern lights.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Does that sound enticing? Contact Boden Business Park<\/a> for business establishment or reach out to our relocation host<\/a> for further information. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Keep calm and carry on. So says the writing on the wall in the Handal family\u2019s home in Harads, next to pictures of the children and the citizen of the year awards for both Boden and Edefors. The wall symbolically highlights the life and pride of entrepreneur Juan Handal. Juan Handal leads a hectic life, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6537,"featured_media":12068,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[104,92,89,85],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12140","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bodensare-en-2","category-business-en","category-countryside-en","category-reportage-en-2"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-08 14:27:42","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/flyttatillboden.se\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12140","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/flyttatillboden.se\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/flyttatillboden.se\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flyttatillboden.se\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6537"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flyttatillboden.se\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12140"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/flyttatillboden.se\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12140\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flyttatillboden.se\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12068"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/flyttatillboden.se\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12140"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flyttatillboden.se\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12140"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flyttatillboden.se\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12140"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}