October 17, 2014

2 Min Read
Big Dutchman Expands U.S. Headquarters

Big Dutchman USA held a ribbon-cutting ceremony and open house celebration this week, welcoming visitors to view the company’s newly expanded office and show room space in Holland, MI. The attractive new two story building adds 12,000 sq. ft. to the existing facility, doubling office space for Big Dutchman’s currently engaged 138 employees. “The investment will benefit and better support our rapidly growing business in the U.S., Canada and Latin America” says Clovis Rayzel, president of Big Dutchman USA.

Rayzel greeted visitors as they walked through the door of the new facility. “We anticipate to hire 20 more employees in the coming year – mostly to reinforce product development and technical support to customers,” he says. The new showroom features a variety of innovative, future-oriented equipment and computer technology for pork production, as well as the management of laying hens, broilers, breeders and turkeys. 

Big Dutchman has been developing and selling automatic feeding, housing and ventilation systems for pig and poultry management since the company was founded in 1938. Big Dutchman USA was established in the Holland/Zeeland area by the Dutch immigrant brothers Richard and Jack DeWitt. Their pioneer work led to the invention of the world’s first automatic feeding machine for chickens, which is now on display in the new reception area of the Holland facility.

Big Dutchman is headquartered globally in Vechta, Germany, with over 900 employees there and 2,500 employees worldwide. It operates subsidiaries and logistic centers across six continents with sales in more than 100 countries. Although the company has grown immensely in the last 10 years, Big Dutchman’s CEO and Chairman of the Board of Management, Bernd Meerpohl, still likes to call it “one large family”. To him, the U.S. company based in Holland naturally is of greatest historic and sentimental value and during a speech given at the ribbon cutting ceremony, Meerpohl spoke fondly of the DeWitts when he proudly asserts that “even today, the company is influenced daily by Jack’s simple, ageless way of doing business. He was very customer-focused and market-oriented and this is our philosophy every day.” 

Learn more about Big Dutchman at www.bigdutchmanusa.com.

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