Jan Willem Smeulers New President Netherlands American Chamber of Commerce SouthEastern US

ATLANTA - April 24, 2013 - PRLog -- PRESS RELEASE - April 24th 2013

The Netherlands American Chamber of Commerce for the Southeastern United States (NACCSE), is pleased to announce the appointment of it’s current Vice President Jan Willem A. Smeulers as the Chamber’s new President, effective April 22nd 2013.  In accepting his new position as President, Jan Willlem stated: “I am honored to be asked to fulfill this great function at the Netherlands-American Chamber.”

Jan Willem is taking over the Presidency from Pieter van der Toorn, President at Interface Services, who held the customary one year term 2012-2013. The appointment was confirmed at the Annual Members Meeting on April 22nd 2013 by a unanimous vote. Pieter van der Toorn: “Over the past twelve months I believe we have delivered on our commitment to our members to provide them with the right mix of educational, networking and social events. We are seeing continued growth in our membership; I am immensely thankful to our Board of Directors and its Executive Committee for the opportunity to serve as President this past year, and I hand over the baton to my friend  Jan Willem Smeulers with the utmost confidence in his leadership and the future direction of our Chamber..”

Jan Willem Smeulers is Vice President at KLM Royal Dutch Airlines. Throughout Jan Willem’s professional path in many different parts of the world, he has been well aware of the importance of networking and finding like-minded individuals to come together and advance their mutual interests. Jan Willem : “The Chamber offers great opportunities for our members to interact, learn from each other and extend experiences, thus allowing the members to develop effectively on their commercial or organizational paths and relationships”.  

A heartfelt thank you goes out to Pieter van der Toorn for his dedication, support and effort during this past year and for driving the Chamber in the right direction, Pieter will stay active in his role as Vice President.          

Jan Willem A. Smeulers

Jan Willem Smeulers serves as Vice President of KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, which was founded in 1919 to serve the Netherlands and its colonies.  Today, it is the oldest airline still operating under its original name.  KLM has been part of the Air France/KLM group since its merger in 2004.

A native of The Hague, The Netherlands, Mr. Smeulers started his KLM career in November of 1974 serving in various Marketing and Sales positions in the Netherlands and the USA until 1985.  He then served as District Manager in Nigeria, Managing Director of a Cargo subsidiary and General Manager in Stockholm, Sweden until 1994. After that time, he has served as Vice President and Area Manager – Latin America and the Caribbean in Caracas, Venezuela, Vice President North America and Mexico in Minneapolis, MN, during the joint venture with Northwest Airlines; and since 2009, Mr. Smeulers has served as Vice President for KLM at Delta in Atlanta as corporate representative for the joint venture between KLM/Air France/Alitalia and Delta.

Following his secondary education in The Netherlands, Mr. Smeulers attended the Netherlands School of Business Administration in 1969 – 1971.  He received a BA in Business Administration in 1972 and an MBA in 1973 from the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, WA. Jan Willem resides in Atlanta, GA, with his wife, Vera Guinan.

About the NACCSE 
The Netherlands American Chamber of Commerce of the Southeastern United States is the largest Dutch networking organization in the Southeastern U.S. In addition to networking, the Chamber provides opportunities for you to advertise your company, develop relationships with Dutch and American companies, and learn from the common experiences of its members. The Chamber hosts monthly events to bring members and also non-­‐members together to learn about a current topic of interest, to announce upcoming events and opportunities, and to acknowledge new chamber members. This is just one more way the Dutch Chamber of Commerce (NACCSE) in Atlanta offers its members the possibility to connect and build business opportunities. It allows members to be in touch and hear about current concerns, solutions, and projects and to share insights and professional perspectives. Please visit our website www.naccse.org