Peter Boer, bold connector

SPIE Nederland has partnered with a dedicated team of mechanics far from the labour market to support a growing business in sustainable LED lighting. Peter Boer,
Business Development Manager for e-fficient buildings division at SPIE Nederland tells us more about this partnership.

During his twenty-year career in sales and business development, Peter has always focused on connecting people to find new solutions. “I grabbed the chance,” he says about setting up a partnership between SPIE Nederland and GreenFox, a start-up producing circular-economy LED lighting.

Since meeting Henk Klip, GreenFox’s founder in 2017, Peter has been enthusiastic about the concept. “If you retrofit fluorescent lights with repairable LEDs, there’s less waste than other LEDs and you can cut energy bills by 60%.” But above all, GreenFox employs people who are disqualified from their previous work, unqualified youths, refugees and others on the fringes of the job market.

Today, SPIE Nederland is GreenFox’s exclusive European distributor, recruiting a dedicated team of mechanics from disadvantaged backgrounds through the Dutch employment agency. Everyone receives training and part-time education, supported by SPIE. While there are some challenges, Peter confirms, “it’s very satisfying to give people a chance and see them grow.” In the future, he would like to expand the business to other European countries.