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    Groninger photographer Courtney Bonneau launches new exhibition in Lebanon

    The cold of the North is compensated by the warmth of its people – Ocean Grazer engineer

    The cold of the North is compensated by the warmth of its people – Ocean Grazer engineer

    Philips Drachten

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    Lobbying for the North: Building a Hydrogen Valley

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    Groningers have the best sense of humor in the Netherlands, study claims

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    Sold-out Eurosonic Noorderslag brings the best in European music to Northern Netherlands

    Groningen_station_hall

    Groningen landmark may be demolished as part of railway station redevelopment project

    Watch: A workplace that sells itself – CTO on working at Ocean Grazer

    Watch: A workplace that sells itself – CTO on working at Ocean Grazer

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      Groningen welcomes Qatar 2022 with cheer and criticism

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      The inside of Forum Groningen

      “Let’s Gro” opens a discussion on the future of Groningen

      What about food in student city Groningen?

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      Ukraine Food opens in Groningen

      Ukraine Food opens in Groningen

      Buses will no longer travel through the Grote Markt in Groningen

      Buses will no longer travel through the Grote Markt in Groningen

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      “Tall Ships” Race coming to Friesland this week

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      Noorderzon festival returning to Groningen in August

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      Plans for extensive Kardinge residential expansion revealed

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        Noorderzon festival returning to Groningen in August

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          Watch: A workplace that sells itself – CTO on working at Ocean Grazer

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          It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas

          People protesting on a street in Groningen.

          Former Sugar Homes residents protest for return of withheld deposit

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          I’m not Black; I’m African

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          Watch: I’m 100% positive about my Groningen internship – Hanze international student

          Watch: I’m 100% positive about my Groningen internship – Hanze international student

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          Watch: We’re hiring internationals to help us with foreign clients – ACS Buildings CEO

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            The cold of the North is compensated by the warmth of its people – Ocean Grazer engineer

            The cold of the North is compensated by the warmth of its people – Ocean Grazer engineer

            Watch: A workplace that sells itself – CTO on working at Ocean Grazer

            Watch: A workplace that sells itself – CTO on working at Ocean Grazer

            Watch: We’re hiring internationals to help us with foreign clients – ACS Buildings CEO

            Watch: We’re hiring internationals to help us with foreign clients – ACS Buildings CEO

            Small but mighty: TECNED is looking for internationals to help it grow

            Small but mighty: TECNED is looking for internationals to help it grow

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            Talk on International Growth by local founders to take place on the 21st of June

            Groningen to host its first sustainable business day

            Groningen to host its first sustainable business day

            Companies in Dutch energy sector seek next cohort of young leaders

            Companies in Dutch energy sector seek next cohort of young leaders

            Annual Beta Business Days event a success

            Annual Beta Business Days event a success

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            Startup Visa Crew offers support to Ukrainian entrepreneurs (Переклад українською)

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              A woman.

              Groninger photographer Courtney Bonneau launches new exhibition in Lebanon

              The cold of the North is compensated by the warmth of its people – Ocean Grazer engineer

              The cold of the North is compensated by the warmth of its people – Ocean Grazer engineer

              Philips Drachten

              Philips to fire 6,000 staff to cut costs

              First flight from Eelde to Munich

              Eelde Airport secures two new summer routes

              A hydrogen bus.

              Lobbying for the North: Building a Hydrogen Valley

              An American Groninger in Madurodam

              Groningers have the best sense of humor in the Netherlands, study claims

              A band playing at a live concert

              Sold-out Eurosonic Noorderslag brings the best in European music to Northern Netherlands

              Groningen_station_hall

              Groningen landmark may be demolished as part of railway station redevelopment project

              Watch: A workplace that sells itself – CTO on working at Ocean Grazer

              Watch: A workplace that sells itself – CTO on working at Ocean Grazer

              Trending Tags

              • Lifestyle
                • All
                • Food & Drinks
                • Nightlife
                • Shopping
                • What's happening
                Groningen welcomes Qatar 2022 with cheer and criticism

                Groningen welcomes Qatar 2022 with cheer and criticism

                The anti Zwarte Piet protest in Emmen

                Emmen: Four people still detained after anti Zwarte Piet protest

                The inside of Forum Groningen

                “Let’s Gro” opens a discussion on the future of Groningen

                What about food in student city Groningen?

                Where to get knockout fries in the northern provinces

                Ukraine Food opens in Groningen

                Ukraine Food opens in Groningen

                Buses will no longer travel through the Grote Markt in Groningen

                Buses will no longer travel through the Grote Markt in Groningen

                “Tall Ships” Race coming to Friesland this week

                “Tall Ships” Race coming to Friesland this week

                Noorderzon festival returning to Groningen in August

                Noorderzon festival returning to Groningen in August

                Plans for extensive Kardinge residential expansion revealed

                Plans for extensive Kardinge residential expansion revealed

                Trending Tags

                • Culture
                  • All
                  • Dutch history
                  • Typical Dutch
                  A woman.

                  Groninger photographer Courtney Bonneau launches new exhibition in Lebanon

                  Eurosonic Noorderslag

                  Eurosonic Noorderslag

                  Ending the Year with a Bang!

                  Ending the Year with a Bang!

                  It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas

                  It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas

                  A devastating defeat; an unexpected victory

                  A devastating defeat; an unexpected victory

                  Sinterklaas is Here!

                  Sinterklaas is Here!

                  A moment from NFF 2021

                  Noordelijk Film Festival 2022 has started

                  “Tall Ships” Race coming to Friesland this week

                  “Tall Ships” Race coming to Friesland this week

                  Noorderzon festival returning to Groningen in August

                  Noorderzon festival returning to Groningen in August

                  Trending Tags

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                    The cold of the North is compensated by the warmth of its people – Ocean Grazer engineer

                    The cold of the North is compensated by the warmth of its people – Ocean Grazer engineer

                    Watch: A workplace that sells itself – CTO on working at Ocean Grazer

                    Watch: A workplace that sells itself – CTO on working at Ocean Grazer

                    It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas

                    It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas

                    People protesting on a street in Groningen.

                    Former Sugar Homes residents protest for return of withheld deposit

                    I’m not Black; I’m African

                    I’m not Black; I’m African

                    A letter from the Editor – Internationals from 120 countries: Welcome to Groningen, Leeuwarden, Assen and Emmen!

                    MPs call for cap on foreign student numbers in order to ensure ‘accessibility’

                    Watch: I’m 100% positive about my Groningen internship – Hanze international student

                    Watch: I’m 100% positive about my Groningen internship – Hanze international student

                    Common cold becoming too common

                    Watch: We’re hiring internationals to help us with foreign clients – ACS Buildings CEO

                    Watch: We’re hiring internationals to help us with foreign clients – ACS Buildings CEO

                    Trending Tags

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                      The cold of the North is compensated by the warmth of its people – Ocean Grazer engineer

                      The cold of the North is compensated by the warmth of its people – Ocean Grazer engineer

                      Watch: A workplace that sells itself – CTO on working at Ocean Grazer

                      Watch: A workplace that sells itself – CTO on working at Ocean Grazer

                      Watch: We’re hiring internationals to help us with foreign clients – ACS Buildings CEO

                      Watch: We’re hiring internationals to help us with foreign clients – ACS Buildings CEO

                      Small but mighty: TECNED is looking for internationals to help it grow

                      Small but mighty: TECNED is looking for internationals to help it grow

                      Talk on International Growth by local founders to take place on the 21st of June

                      Talk on International Growth by local founders to take place on the 21st of June

                      Groningen to host its first sustainable business day

                      Groningen to host its first sustainable business day

                      Companies in Dutch energy sector seek next cohort of young leaders

                      Companies in Dutch energy sector seek next cohort of young leaders

                      Annual Beta Business Days event a success

                      Annual Beta Business Days event a success

                      What’s it like working in Northern Netherlands?

                      Startup Visa Crew offers support to Ukrainian entrepreneurs (Переклад українською)

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                      “You get employees that think outside of the box. They see things in another perspective”: interview with Margriet Bouma and Leo van der Burg of the Metaalunie and FME

                      The Northern Times by The Northern Times
                      July 18, 2019
                      in business
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                      What does it mean to make it in the north? This is one in a series of portraits of local people, organisations, and companies working to further internationalise Groningen, Friesland, and Drenthe. In this instalment, we meet Margriet Bouma and Leo van der Burg, both of whom work in the world of business interest groups, companies and labour unions and whose organisations have been at the forefront of the internationalisation in the North for a long time.

                      By Morten Pedersen

                      Out near the brand new training facilities of the football team FC Groningen, we find the offices of both FME and Metaalunie. Two large organisations that have thousands of companies and workers connected to them, and represent both workers and business leaders. They are both partners with the Make it in the North project, and the wider internationalisation of the Northern Dutch economy.

                      What do you, respectively, do here in the northern regions?

                      Leo van der Brug: The FME works on business development, and helping to foster innovation. The Northern Netherlands has a big focus on smart industry and the digitalisation of the industrial process- and we’re working with the Metaalunie on developing new industries in the region. My main focus is the maritime industry- we have a lot of very highly skilled ship-builders, as well as companies and people that work across the maritime sector.

                      Margriet Bouma: As the Metaalunie, we stimulate our members to take innovative approached to their business challenges- and we provide education within the companies to help this. Important topics for us include smart industry in general, and more specific initiative such as smart welding, and so on. Automation, digitalisation, and how to provide the highly-skilled workers needed to drive these developments are big questions for us. How can we keep these people in our companies? And how can we attract more of them? Another area of focus for us is how we can strengthen the exporting side of our members’ businesses.

                      What drew you to Make it in the North?

                      LvdB: When I was approached with the idea of the Make it in the North platform, it was very easy to say yes. The internalisation of the North is really a puzzle we need to solve. With so many companies worrying about the future, we’ve had quite a few questions like “do we have enough skilled employees in the future?”, and “can I find enough specialised and technically capable employees?”. These have especially come from the small and medium sized businesses that don’t necessarily have a close contact with the universities, and so don’t stand first in line for graduates with the right skill-set.

                      MB: Our organisation had been visiting a lot of different companies to make an overview of the needs of our members, and we had concluded much the same: the companies are worried for the future, especially with the coming of widespread digitalisation and technological development. We’ve also been asked whether we could help with solving the problem of keeping enough skilled employees in the companies. So, when we found out about the platform, it was clear that we could contribute and make use of it. We try and stimulate our members to actively go and use the platform: that is our main task. And we also advise on what type of content there should be, to help both our member companies, and companies like them that are not in the metal sector. One tool that we’re very excited about is the ‘living’ export map, where companies can get an overview of who else is exporting, to where, and thus hopefully work with each other to make market entry easier for everyone.

                      In that respect, what is it that your members will benefit from greater internationalisation in the North?

                      MB: You get employees that think outside of the box. They see things in another perspective, they have a different context and all of that it can contribute for the company. The Make it in the North platform might also help companies with overcoming the difficulties that are also posed by being more international: any language barriers, different working cultures, getting work-visa and resident permits, and so on.

                      LvdB: We are also aiming to get members to use the export mapping on the platform. It is a strong tool, which might get more people into the webpage, and then we hope that they will also contribute to the other services Make it in the North offers, like linking contacts with universities and research projects, sharing knowledge, and making International people feel at home here.

                      MB: Yes it will give them an easy way to get a bigger cross-regional and international network, that will help them find the right people for their company, and thus help their business grow!

                      Morten Pedersen is a facilitator working on the Make it in the North project with the IWCN.

                      Tags: companiesFMEinternationalisationInterviewMake it in the NorthMetaalunieMiitNNorthunion
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                      NorthernTimes.nl is an English-language news site for internationals and anyone interested in news and activities in the three northern Dutch provinces of Groningen, Friesland and Drenthe. The website provides daily coverage and summaries of local news in the north, as well as human interest stories, backgrounds and a regional events calendar. The Northern Times is an initiative of the International Welcome Center North in cooperation with Persbureau Tammeling BV, which owns and operates the website.

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