2001 Walter Barnard Hill Awards for Distinguished Achievement in University Public Service & Outreach

Job P. Dieleman

Job P. Dieleman has distinguished himself as an international trade consultant with the Business Outreach Services/Small Business Development Center (BOS/SBDC) for the past 12 years. In 1996, the International Trade Division received a national award for program excellence from the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA). The National Association of Small Business Development Centers’ Certification Review Team singled out Georgia’s international trade program as an outstanding example of public service in higher education, according to one team member, the program is “second to no other SBDC in the country”

Since joining BOS/SBDC, Dieleman has provided consulting for 450 companies, and conducted 250 seminars. His consulting approach is modeled after his private-sector experience with Milliken and Company. The short-term impact of the International Trade Division’s consulting program is conservatively estimated at $40 million in international transactions. Dieleman often takes an active role in helping companies reach objectives. For example, he recently returned form a trip to Taiwan to help a small Georgia company negotiate a sizeable order with China Airlines. He will soon be taking three companies to a high-tech trade show in South Korea.

In 1993, Dieleman recognized the need for an export-training program for new-to-export companies. To address this need, he co-developed the “Passport to Export” program. He teaches most of the 18-hour curriculum and organized 200 seminars in 15 different locations around the state. The last seminar he added to the series was about making it as a “Middleman in World Markets.” Dieleman used extensive research structure a seminar that addresses the issues of greatest concern to middlemen; the seminar has been taught 30 times. His work in continuing education earned recognition from the Georgia Economic Developers Association (GEDA) in 1996 as the most effective export training programs for new-to-export companies. Also in 1996, the program was recommended by the U.S. SBA to be used as part of their Export Trade Assistance Partnership. In 1999, the SBA asked the International Trade Division to put “Passport to Export” on SBA’s new Web Site.

His crowning achievement in continuing education is “ExportGA,” which he co-developed in 1998. This intensive year-long program specifically addresses the needs of export-ready companies and has already resulted in $22 million in international sales. Recently, one of the participants signed a $15 million contract with a hospital chain in Brazil. In 1999, the U.S Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced a $500,000 grant to the Small Business Development Centers in Alabama, Mississippi, and Georgia to provide assistance to value-added food companies based on the “ExportGA” model.

As a member of the academic community, Dieleman has been interest in helping students prepare for a career in international business. In 1988, he initiated an internship program with the Terry College of Business. Since then, 75 juniors/seniors have worked directly with companies to help them penetrate foreign markets. He ha salso focused on economic development to the Georgia-Pernambuco Partners of the Americas’ relationship with Brazil. He serves as a consultant to the COSIN-EXP project, a multinational effort to improve the export performance of small businesses in Northeast Brazil. He recently developed the “Environmental Technologies and Education Initiative” to provide business opportunities for Georgia environmental businesses in Brazil.

Dieleman brought exceptionally strong qualifications to his position. He grew up and was educated in The Netherlands, Iraq, Egypt, Italy and the United States. He has traveled extensively around the world and speaks several languages. His experience and academic credentials have earned him a high level of respect form the small business community in Georgia.