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Leveraging Logistics: How European Innovations Are Benefiting U.S. Manufacturers
June 25, 2025 at 5:00 pm – 7:00 pm
Facing a topsy-turvy trade landscape and a shrinking pool of trained workers, American manufacturers are searching for sources of competitiveness.
Increasingly, that means looking internally, investing in automation to drive efficiencies and cut costs.
Fortunately for metro Atlanta, European companies accustomed to constraints on land and labor are investing here to bring innovations in logistics to the U.S. market, leveraging new technologies and design savvy to boost resiliency and profitability.
Perhaps no country offers more innovation muscle per capita than the Netherlands, a logistics hub boasting Europe’s largest port in Rotterdam and one of its busiest, best-connected airports in Schiphol. It’s also an exemplar of urban design, blending connected infrastructure with centuries of knowledge on marine management and mobility.
Join Global Atlanta, the Cobb Chamber of Commerce and the Netherlands-American Chamber of Commerce Southeast for an evening of networking featuring some of the Dutch firms helping their customers leverage logistics for greater competitiveness in an era of rapid change.
In Partnership With:
Opening Remarks:
Evan Malbrough,
Senior Economic Policy Advisor, Consulate General of the Netherlands in Atlanta
Evan Malbrough is a native of Smyrna, Georgia. He is a 2020 graduate of Georgia State University with a degree in Public Policy, a minor in Cello Performance, and an inductee to Georgia State University’s 2022 40 under 40 class. At GSU, Evan was a founding member of his Vote Everywhere, where he led civic engagement programming on campus. While pursuing his undergraduate studies, Evan served as a Summer Research Fellow at the United States Department of Defense, serving at the Pentagon. At the Pentagon, Evan worked in legislative affairs and worked to support the DOD Office of General Counsel. Upon graduating, Evan became a 2020 Puffin Fellow with the Andrew Goodman Foundation. Evan founded the Georgia Youth Poll Worker Project, recruiting 1,000 poll workers for the 2020 general election and 2021 runoff. The ACLU of Georgia officially acquired the Georgia Youth Poll Worker Project in December 2021, naming him a Voter Access Project Fellow between December 2021- September 2023. As a fellow Evan worked to protect on campus early voting centers in Atlanta and supported ACLU GA’s legislative initiatives. Evan is a writer who has published in publications such as Forbes, Teen Vogue, and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. After leaving the ACLU of Georgia, Evan served as the Managing Organizer of Georgia for Our Turn where he worked with APS students to create a student mental health community board district wide. Finally, Evan now works as a VoteFlare Associate at the Shorenstein Center for Media and Politics at the Harvard Kennedy School and as the Senior Economic Policy Advisor at the Netherlands Consulate.
Sebastian van der Vegt, President, Netherlands-American Chamber of Commerce Southeast
Sebastian van der Vegt is an international business and strategic communications leader. He is passionate about win-win, purpose driven partnerships, storytelling, brand building and aligning strategy to enable rapid growth.
Sebastian is an expert in business, communications, business planning, marketing, content creation & optimization, public affairs, crisis communications, digital marketing, change management, and media relations & strategic partnerships.
He has 20+ years international experience, including leading roles within Coca-Cola and the United Nations (UN) on 3 continents. Co-author of one of the first UN books on Sustainability translated to 11 languages. MBA, BA in Psychology, Executive Education in International Communications.
Featured Speakers
Art Masri,
Director of Sales, Airports and Parcel North America, VanderLande
Vanderlande is a market-leading, global partner for future-proof logistic process automation in the warehousing, airports and parcel sectors. Its extensive portfolio of integrated solutions – innovative systems, intelligent software and life-cycle services – results in the realization of fast, reliable and efficient automation technology
Jaap Tigelaar,
Mobility Expert,
Arcadis
Arcadis is the world’s leading company delivering sustainable design, engineering, and consultancy solutions for natural and built assets. We are more than 36,000 people, in over 30 countries, dedicated to improving quality of life.
Rick Bake,
Sr. Business Development Manager
NewCold
NewCold, the world’s third-largest refrigerated food logistics provider, offers advanced temperature-controlled supply chain solutions. With 25 state-of-the-art, highly automated, and energy-efficient warehouses across three continents, NewCold offers a combined capacity of more than 1.9 million pallet positions. With a growing transport fleet, NewCold provides end-to-end supply chain solutions to leading food companies powered by proprietary technology and backed by a team of 2,700 people from over 40 cultures.
