Dutch Chamber Recognizes Community Business Leaders at Awards Dinner

The Dutch practice of blending commerce with culture and camaraderie is alive and well in the Southeast U.S., thanks in part to awardees honored in Atlanta last Wednesday. 

At a private dinner, the Netherlands-American Chamber of Commerce Southeast recognized a Dutch trailblazer and an investor — one company and one individual, both present in Georgia. 

Bernard Vanderlande came to Atlanta as an undergraduate student, then went to the University of North Carolina for his MBA before making made his home here. The longtime staffing executive who founded Tula Executive Search in 2009 is a past president of the NACCSE, helping guide the programming of the organization as it grew, starting in the 1990s. Learn more about Mr. Vanderlande in this NACCSE spotlight posted on Global Atlanta

Mr. Vanderlande took home the inaugural Jan Willem Smeulers Award, named for another former chamber president who championed business with the Netherlands as he led KLM’s joint-venture connection with Delta Air Lines in Atlanta. 

The late Mr. Smeulers passed away in 2024, leaving a legacy of service to the bilateral business community. 

The chamber saw Mr. Vanderlande as continuing in that spirit through his life of commitment to the chamber and to the broader Dutch diaspora. 

Mr. Vanderlande has been a consistent presence, committed to the good of the chamber and the quality of its programming, often opening his network to recruit speakers for breakfast events and lunch-and-learns, officials said. (Earlier in the day, the chamber had hosted an economic forecast from a representative of RaboBank.)

“This is Mr. Well-Connected,” past-President Manori de Silva said in welcoming Mr. Vanderlande to the front of the private room at Mission + Market in Buckhead. “He always knew who to bring, and we value so much what you gave to us, and your friendship.” 

Both Mr. Vanderlande and Mr. Smeulers, the namesake of the award, embodied a welcoming spirit, said Ms. De Silva, who is not Dutch but was brought into the fold by both men.

In brief acceptance remarks, Mr. Vanderlande said there is more to be done to recognize the Dutch presence in the U.S. and expand transatlantic friendship during a time of turbulence. 

“We have a lot to offer in Holland. We come from a good country, we know how to make compromises, and that’s why it’s important for us and the whole chamber to talk to people about it and show that we have this background,” Mr. Vanderlande said. 

The corporate honor was given out by Abdullahi Hashi, the deputy consul general of the Netherlands, who pointed to Dutch investors as the reason the consulate was founded in 2019.

 “Without Dutch companies, we wouldn’t be here, and I wouldn’t be here as a civil servant. It’s all about the business, and it’s all about the Dutch companies,” Mr. Hashi said. 

He proceeded to honor VDL Industries Inc., represented by Tim Meeles, managing director at the company’s Hall County site, with the Orange Global Impact Award, for its investment, not only monetarily but also in the local community through its workforce training programs. The machinery maker and contract manufacturer put its first facility in Georgia in 2018, ramping up to 60 people as of last year. Now, it’s planning a much larger expansion.

“I always like to say we hire through society, or at least we try to. So we have the guys on the floor, we have engineers, and we have real craftsmen working for us. And at the end of the day, it’s them that do the job, so mostly this is award is for them and definitely not for me. It’s for the company,” Mr. Meeles said. 

Mr. Meeles added that VDL Groep, founded in 1953, has always stayed true to its family values, a fact that has served it well in Georgia. 

“A big word of thank you to the NACCSE for including me and including us  into this community, welcoming us with such open arms.” 

The event’s attendees included longtime luminaries of the Dutch business community, showing the continuity between years past and the current day. That included former Honorary Consul Ewoud Swaak and Remco Bos, former chairman of the Atlanta Holland Business Network, the precursor to the chamber. Also in attendance were chamber board members, including Denise Kellerman ofYER USA, who oversaw the presentations, and current chamber President Sebastian Van der Vegt. Executive Director Annemarie MacFarland principally organized the event.