NEWS - Local Breaking News

On Friday, April 30, 2010, the German American Chamber of Commerce of the Southern US, Inc. held its Annual General Meeting in Savannah, GA. As part of this meeting, members in attendance voted in new members of the Board of Directors.

As part of the vote, Chairman Matthias Schönberg and Vice Chairman Steven Markham were elected by the Board. Mr. Schönberg is the CEO of Continental Tire the Americas, LLC and is located in Charlotte, NC. He is currently responsible for the tire business of Continental for North and South America, with plants in the USA, Mexico, Brazil and Ecuador.

The newly elected Chairman marks a historical occasion for the GACC South, as he is the first chairperson to be based outside of Atlanta, GA. The chamber has aimed to expand into more of its designated eleven Southern states, and such an election widens possible prospects and opportunities for the German-American business community.

Vice Chairman Steven Markham is the President of BLG Logistics, Inc. in the United States, where BLG is a third-party provider for the automotive industry. Mr. Markham had worked with BLG since 1991 in Bremen, Germany, where it is an international logistics service provider, and came to Atlanta with the company in 2004.

New board members include Gene Donelly, VP for the Southern Region of BMW of North America, LLC, Lars Oltmanns, President of Coppenrath USA, LP, Europe’s most famous maker of frozen cakes and bread and Claudius Reckord, President and CEO of VS America, Inc, a company that specializes in school and office furniture. The chamber also welcomes Guido Woska, President of Hoffmann & Krippner, Inc, a leading producer of Human Machine Interfaces, and Martin Richenhagen, the Chairman, President & CEO of AGCO Corporation, a Fortune 500 company that owns fifteen brands of agricultural equipment.

The business diversity of the new additions to the board demonstrate the wide variety of German-American businesses experiencing growth in the Southern United States.

The GACC South would like to extend their sincere thanks to their sponsors in Savannah for embracing the chamber’s Annual General Meeting there at the end of April. Special thanks to the Savannah Economic Development Authority, the City of Savannah, HERTY, Evans Engineering and Georgia Power. The chamber would also like to extend its thanks to the Savannah Area Chamber of Commerce, Colonial Group, Inc., EMD Chemicals and Hunter Maclean.