Cross of the Order of Merit bestowed on Gerd W. Kichniawy.

May 18, 2009 | Germany.info
(© German Consulate General)

President Horst Köhler has bestowed the Cross of the Order of Merit on Gerd W. Kichniawy. A longtime board member of the German American Chamber of Commerce in Atlanta and previously in New York, and of the American Chamber of Commerce in Germany, Kichniawy was honored for his unwavering efforts to secure jobs and production capacities in Germany through opening US markets for German companies.

Gerd Kichniawy is considered to be among the founding fathers of the now flourishing German business presence in the Southeastern U.S. His firms gatc (in Atlanta) and Kichniawy & Partner (Düsseldorf) specialize on leading small and medium sized companies to success in transatlantic business. In Germany, Gerd Kichniawy had been distinguished for his work on start-up companies as early as 1983. He has also been proclaimed an Honorary Georgia Citizen by then Secretary of State Cathy Cox in 2006.

In a ceremony at his residence in Atlanta, Consul General Lutz Görgens presented Gerd Kichniawy with the high distinction on May 15th, 2009. Görgens praised Kichniawy for his achievements, and said that he particularly enjoyed presenting the Cross of the Order of Merit for the first time to a fellow citizen from his home town of Düsseldorf. The award ceremony was attended by representatives of the Georgia Department of Economic Development, the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce, the German American Chamber of Commerce (South), as well as four previous recipients of the award.