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The German-American Chamber of Commerce of the South opened a new office this week that officials said will improve access for its members and partners while becoming a hub for German business in Midtown.
In perhaps too easy of a joke, chamber President Matthias Hoffmann said the offices at 271 17th Street would take on a new moniker in the minds of those who will use it as a jumping off point for U.S.-Germany trade and investment relationships.
“This whole thing is called Atlantic Station — I think it’s there because of the Atlantic Steel mills— but I would like you to perceive it in the future as the ‘Trans-Atlantic Station,’” Mr. Hoffmann quipped during a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the 17th-floor space offering expansive views of the Atlanta skyline from many of the offices running along the front of the former BB&T building.
Following the main corridor, glassed-in offices are emblazoned with the names of the 11 states within the chamber’s service area, from Georgia and the Carolinas to Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and even Puerto Rico.
The chamber moved from its White Provisions location at the intersection of Howell Mill Road and 14th Street during the pandemic in part because of congestion as the West Midtown area has become more popular. Parking was scarce and sometimes expensive — Atlantic Station offers two hours free — and it wasn’t as accessible to German executives coming in on the Interstate 75/85 connector from factories outside the metro area, said Mr. Hoffman, who took up his post as president and CEO while still in Greece during April 2020, when the chamber had shifted completely to virtual programming.
“We want to have an attractive space for you as our partners or members or organizations in the neighborhood,” he said. “We really tackled it from a very organizational, operative perspective. We want to be approachable for all of you.”
German Consul General Melanie Moltmann, who followed Mr. Hoffmann’s remarks with a short speech of her own, said that he’d beaten her to the Atlantic Station pun.
Though kicking off a festive occasion, both Mr. Hoffmann and Ms. Moltmann acknowledged the gravity of the moment, as Germany and the U.S. work together to sanction Russia for its invasion of Ukraine.
Mr. Hoffmann offered the chamber’s solidarity with Ukraine, and screens set up in at the grand opening included a QR code where attendees could donate to alleviate the unfolding humanitarian crisis. The United Nations estimates that more than a million people have fled Ukraine in the week since the war touched off. Mr. Hoffmann added that sanctions and subsequent supply disruptions may create further challenges for German-owned companies, both at home and here in the South — and that the chamber would keep its members informed.
“Everything has bene tried to prevent this war from happening, and unfortunately we weren’t successful, but it think the one good thing — if I may say so — is that we stand really close together now, an it’s also seen by everyone that we stand closer. I hope that in fit future our trans-Atlantic relations will be as strong gaps they seem today,” said Ms. Moltmann, the consul general.
Also providing remarks at the ribbon-cutting were Vanessa Ibarra, director of the Mayor’s Office of International Affairs, as well as John Woodward, vice president of global commerce for the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce.
On hand were many prominent members of the chamber, including Eike Jordan, who helped found it 43 years ago. Mr. Jordan now chairs the Halle Foundation.
The ceremony was followed up by a larger public reception in the building’s downstairs lobby.
Learn more at https://www.gaccsouth.com/en/
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