Hans Beerkens, second from left, honorary consul of the Netherlands from 1976 until 1997, is honored with the Halve Maen Award April 26.  Also pictured are Kimberle Swaak, left, Marriettte Beerkens and Ewoud Swaak, far right, honorary consul of the Netherlands.  Photo courtesy of Mr. Swaak.

More than 70 Dutch companies have settled in Georgia since the mid-1970s, which can be attributed, in large part, to the efforts of Hans Beerkens, former honorary consul of the Netherlands in Atlanta, who was honored at an April 26 business symposium in Buckhead.

“He has in the last 30 years really worked at putting Atlanta on the map in terms of the Dutch-American business relationship,” said Ewoud Swaak, current honorary consul for the Netherlands in the Southeast.

Mr. Swaak organized an April 26 business meeting and reception at the Southern Center for International Studies in honor of the Dutch national holiday, Koninginnedag, or the Queen’s birthday celebration, which is recognized in the Netherlands on April 30. 

During the session, Mr. Swaak and other local businesspeople honored Mr. Beerkens with the inaugural Halve Maen Award.  Named after the first Dutch ship to sail into New York in 1609, the award recognizes an individual for his or her efforts to build Dutch-American relations in Atlanta.

Mr. Beerkens served as the Netherlands’ first honorary consul in the Southeast for 21 years, starting in 1976 when there were only two Dutch companies operating in Georgia.

His efforts to secure a direct flight between Atlanta and Amsterdam, Netherlands, were instrumental in building Atlanta’s profile in the country and ultimately attracting Dutch businesses to Georgia, Mr. Swaak told GlobalAtlanta.

“It really, really helped.  That’s the reason so many Dutch companies have American headquarters in Atlanta,” Mr. Swaak said of the direct flight, which started first with KLM Royal Dutch Airlines in the 1980s and later with Delta Air Lines Inc. Both airlines continue to offer daily flights to Amsterdam from Atlanta.

Symposium speakers from left to right: Mark van Weegen, vice president and partner, A.T. Kearney; David Golden, partner, Pollack Partners; Ewoud Swaak, honorary consul of the Netherlands; Jiko Andringa, managing director of operations, Randstad USA and Jim Blair of the Georgia Department of Economic Development.  Photo courtesy of Mr. Swaak.

Many of those companies maintain a relatively low profile about their relationship with the Netherlands because they have been operating in the U.S. for many years and have hired local residents to run their companies, Mr. Swaak said, suggesting that a direct connection to the Netherlands was not always apparent. 

More than 27,000 Georgians are employed by Dutch companies, which have invested some $2.5 billion to build 300 operating facilities throughout the state, said Mr. Swaak.

While Georgia and the Netherlands have established a strong business relationship under the leadership of Mr. Berkeens and Eric Vonk, honorary consul from 1997-2005, Mr. Swaak plans to organize regular business symposiums and meetings to keep the relationship “fresh,” he said.

Conferences such as the April 26 symposium remind businesspeople that the Netherlands is a convenient investment destination for Americans, Mr. Swaak said

Low taxes for businesses, an accessible network of international attorneys and accountants and English as the primary language of business make the Netherlands an attractive entry point to Europe for American companies, he said.  The U.S. is currently the largest investor in the Netherlands with some $181 billion of direct investment.

The bioscience, maritime and the oil and gas industries offer the best opportunity for investment in the Netherlands for American companies, he added.

Founder, partner and president of U.S. operations of Westplan Investors Inc., which facilitates Dutch investments in U.S. real estate projects, Mr. Swaak was a featured speaker at the recent symposium.

Other speakers included Jiko Andringa, managing director of operations for Randstad USA; Jim Blair, regional director in business development at the Georgia Department of Economic Development; David Golden, partner with Pollack Partners, an investment and development company and Mark van Weegen, vice president and partner with A.T. Kearney, a management consulting firm.