Baden-Württemberg Crafts Day
The Baden-Württemberg Crafts Day eV (BWHT) represents the interests of the Baden-Württemberg craft at the state level. Its members are the eight Baden-Wuerttemberg craft chambers in Freiburg, Heilbronn , Karlsruhe, Konstanz, Mannheim, Reutlingen , Stuttgart and Ulm as well as the 55 trade associations of the Baden-Wuerttemberg trade, which are employers and industry associations at the same time. There are also eleven organizations that are closely connected to the craft sector. The BWHT, founded in 1960, is managed in the legal form of a registered association, its office is in Stuttgart .
As an umbrella organization , the BWHT represents over 133,000 craft businesses in the state, which with their 792,000 employees train over 48,000 young people in a craft trade and generate a turnover of € 100 billion (as of the end of 2018). The BWHT is affiliated with Handwerk International Baden-Württemberg, a first point of contact for all questions about foreign trade , as well as the consulting company for craft and medium-sized companies (BWHM) , which is particularly active in start-ups and takeovers.
Tasks, goals and projects
The aim of the BWHT is to jointly represent the interests of the Baden-Wuerttemberg craft in relation to state politics and the public. To this end, the BWHT formulates uniform political positions on craft-related topics, is the addressee of the association hearing procedure in the state parliament and an expert contact for politics and the media. In addition, the BWHT has a coordinating function between the craft organizations and is responsible for cross-organizational projects. These projects include, for example, an energy purchasing association that numerous craft businesses have joined across the country.
Since the craft consists primarily of small and medium-sized businesses, medium-sized business policy is one of the core tasks of the BWHT. But the craft day also addresses educational, environmental and technological issues in its departments. The range of topics ranges from reduced VAT for labor-intensive services to the dismantling of cost-intensive and time-consuming bureaucracy to the central topics of securing young talent and the shortage of skilled workers. But the promotion of business start-up advice is also high on the political agenda of the BWHT.
At the head of the handicraft day are the state handicraft president Rainer Reichhold and general manager Oskar Vogel.