"Yes, first of all, you are welcome to address me as an entrepreneur. You did the same with the other chairmen." It is the opening sentence of Ilone Ammerlaan, president of region Oostland, in conversation with Roger Abbenhuijs of Glastuinbouw Nederland.
After all, the book of Plantise, the nursery where she was on the board, seemed closed. "True, but as shareholders, we have retrieved the keys to handle the ongoing business and keep the systems up and running for the time being," she said. All locations in the Netherlands have been sold, those abroad partially." Business as usual is now required, but the pain is palpable. "I am a real entrepreneur, after all," she says.
Ilone Ammerlaan
That makes Ilone Ammerlaan well able to empathize with the greenhouse entrepreneurs who have had to take drastic measures over the past year as a result of the energy crisis, among other things. "Most of all, I sympathize with all those employees who have given their all for decades to the company that has to stop," she says. But like many greenhouse entrepreneurs, she too has recently asked herself the question: what now?
Entrepreneurship is in her genes, which comes in handy in her position of regional president, which she has held for over a year and a half. But she has more ambitions and interests. For instance, Ilone has started training in Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP). "More systemic work, I believe in that. We can certainly do something with that within boards and organizations in greenhouse farming."
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