Meet Honorary Consul John Saunders of Atlanta, Georgia
Meet our honorary consuls! Welcome to our series introducing the honorary consuls working with the Consulate General of Finland in New York. Honorary consuls are private individuals who play an important role in promoting Finland and supporting Finnish citizens and companies in their respective regions. They help strengthen Finland’s diplomatic, economic, and cultural ties locally. We are pleased to introduce John Saunders, our honorary consul in Atlanta, Georgia, who is dedicated to promoting Finland in his home state.
During his 28-year tenure as honorary consul, John Saunders has seen his home state of Georgia become gradually more familiar with Finland. As Georgia is the leading state in the output of forest products, the amount of Finland-based technology used in paper mills throughout the state has accumulated over the years. Saunders, a senior partner at the international law firm Smith Gambrel Russel LLP, has represented such Finnish industrial companies throughout his career. Visiting Helsinki on business, he began to deepen his affection for the country despite not having any Finnish heritage of his own. He soon joined the board of the Finnish-American Chamber of Commerce and became honorary consul in 1996.
Saunders credits locally prominent companies like Kemira and Oilon for strengthening the national brand associated with high-quality products and reliable business partners. In 2009, Kemira collaborated with the well-esteemed Georgia Institute of Technology to open a new research and development center in Atlanta for the purposes of water treatment as well as the pulp, paper, oil, and mining industries. The Atlanta Business Chronicle – the region’s main business magazine – crowned the center among the area’s best places to work in 2023. Similarly, Oilon has been at the forefront of the energy transition in its production of heat pump solutions, burners, and low-emission combustion technology. The Lahti-based firm commenced its operations in the U.S. in 1997, opening a permanent office and warehouse in Thomasville in 2014.
Saunders views that a particularly potent opportunity for Finnish companies to enter the U.S. market could be through the medical industry in Georgia. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the largest federal agency outside of Washington, D.C., is headquartered in Atlanta, and there is significant demand for medical suppliers in the area. Success, however, requires extensive market analysis and a shift in business culture: a key piece of advice he tends to offer Finnish newcomers is understanding just how much American companies value active and well-formulated verbal advertising. Luckily, long-time success stories like Valmet and Konecranes and Nokia have built a strong foundation for the Finns wanting to expand their operations in the region. “Of course, [Finns] are shy, — but what stands out to Americans is the reliability.”
You can find information about all of Finland’s honorary consulates across the U.S. on our website: https://finlandabroad.fi/web/usa/honorary-consulates.