Somehow, I always miss the chamber’s elections. The only candidate who ever called and lobbied was retired politician Daphne Agius Cesareo Lejuez, an educated politician with a long name, and following a short phone conversation, I went to the chamber and voted for her.
The phone calls paid off, she became the president of the chamber, but that was in 2015. We since had a few other presidents, equally active and high profiled, recently, one lawyer, one banker, I did not vote for them, because somehow, I missed the elections, and they did not call me.
A lawyer and a banker. Sounds like traditional baby-boomer professions, but those two were Xers, who felt like boomers, no disrespect, they were both excellent presidents who did a lot to improve the chamber’s performance and raise its public profile.
We now have a new president, Diederik Kemmerling, he is a definite X-er with a touch of Gen-Y built in, a digital native, a product of the digital revolution. As the owner of The Lab, a digital marketing company, he helps companies grow, and over the decade he went from one employee to 19, from one island to three. He is the Co-Organizer of successful E-Seminars, here since 2017, also in Curacao and St Martin. He is a Crisis Business Coach and a recent election made him the President, Chamber of Commerce, Aruba.
In his private life he is the father of an adorable three year old, and is married to a famed local beauty, also active in marketing, with a large tourism related business. Diederik, or Big D., as I often call him, is an avid athlete and an Irona Man competitor, with an optimal BMI, befitting a runner.
With his consistent support, social media and digital marketing made quantum leaps on Aruba.
Diederik first came here in 2006, from the Netherlands, as a hospitality stagiaire, working at the food & beverage department at the Marriott Aruba Resort & Stellaris Casino. He returned to the motherland at the end of his one-year internship, but Aruba lingered on his mind and he returned in 2012, this time to stay. He opened his own company, the Lab shortly after and shared the knowledge he acquired in Europe, by marketing coffee giant Douwe Egberts, among locals. It was an instant success. Joining the chamber was his way of giving back to the community.
The community/GOA, he explains, has always seen the Chamber of Commerce as an organization that oversees the Commercial and Foundation Registry, a glorified secretary, or archival resource. But in the last few years the chamber has been working hard to improve its standing, and grow into its own shoes, by being truly involved in business of the island, beyond its formal oversight duties.
Diederik reports the chamber now promotes and supports the local business community, more than ever. It operates as an advisory body to GOA and other important stakeholders. It provides information, educational workshops and training on social, financial, and economic issues relevant to commerce and industry. Most importantly, the chamber offers a range of services to support the growth and success of the island’s businesses community, in general, and is available to play an advisory role for businesses and foundations, upon request.
Diederik’s road to the presidency started three years ago, he has been an active board member, and the presidency culminated his journey.
My focus in the coming year, he says, as if we couldn’t guess, is CONNECT. together with my board members we will focus on the following areas:
- Connect with the Business Community; Trainings, Understanding the business challenges, for example the current severe labor market shortages, and the flaws in the tax structure.
- Connect with GOA, which includes brainstorming, discussions, active advice on business challenges
- Connect with Internationals, explore investment summits, and trade missions.
We will spread a larger net, he concludes.
While he is looking ahead, he cites the team had numerous accomplishments in 2023, which should be acknowledged. The chamber conducted 30 trainings, 3 business mixers, 1 annual business event with 300 attendees, the board met monthly with the Minister of Economic Affairs, and scheduled periodic meetings with other ministers, such as the Minister of Finance, and the Minister of Labor. The chamber advised actively on taxation, labor laws, and enjoyed collaboration with outside organizations such as ImpactHub
We will El Presidente buckets of success.
