The largest concentration of Belgian-owned companies in the U.S. is in Georgia, where more than 60 firms have a presence.
And an economic mission that arrived in Atlanta Sunday featuring nearly 300 Belgian business, university and organization leaders could expand those numbers.
Belgium’s consul general in Atlanta, Michel Gerebtzoff, says many business owners in Belgium are only familiar with places in the U.S. like New York and California, but not necessarily the American South.
“We just try to make better known the advantages of this region, together with our partners with the chamber, with the governor’s office and with the mayor’s office, which are very, very supportive,” said Gerebtzoff.
Among the Belgian companies already in Georgia is Solvay, whose materials business is headquartered in Alpharetta. On Sunday, a ribbon cutting took place for the company’s New Applications Development Lab. The event included Princess Astrid of Belgium and the country’s ambassador to the U.S., Jean-Arthur Régibeau.
Gerebtzoff says Solvay is an example of an innovative company that is a good fit with what’s happening in Georgia.
“They’re active on new materials, active on electric vehicles, they’re active in aerospace. So they do bring solutions to some of the challenges we face,” said Gerebtzoff. “And Georgia is very well positioned, obviously, to attract more of those investments.”
Carmelo Lo Faro, who heads Solvay’s materials business, says Georgia’s talent pool and diversity of talent are among the top reasons Alpharetta was chosen.
“We talk a lot these days about talent shortage or talent war. Georgia is a great place for the type of talent we need,” said Lo Faro. “One is the proximity to Georgia Tech, a great engineering school that brings us the engineers, scientists and chemists that we need to run a global, world-class operation”
He says the state’s business climate, access to Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport and being in the Eastern time zone are also big pluses.
“We can have calls in the morning with our colleagues in Europe. And in the evening, as soon as Korea and Japan wake up, we have calls with customers and colleagues in that region of the world,” said Lo Faro.
As part of the economic mission, the Belgian delegation will attend a diversity, equity and inclusion event at the National Center for Civil and Human Rights. They’ll also meet with Gov. Brian Kemp and the state’s economic development team. Later in the week, the mission trip continues to New York and Boston.
While the chemical and pharmaceutical industries make up a large portion of the trade between the state of Georgia and Belgium, Gerebtzoff says creative arts are another big area for potential growth.
“Cultural industries, movies, e-gaming, music is one of the sectors that I’m expecting will witness the highest growth in the future,” he said.
