Great price of the middle class

Prize sculpture Grand Prize of the Middle Class

The Grand Prix for medium-sized companies (until 2005: Oskar for medium-sized companies ) has been an annual competition for medium-sized companies since 1995 . The prize is awarded by the Oskar Patzelt Foundation , which was called the OSKAR Foundation until 2005. In 2016, 4,796 companies took part in the Grand Prix for SMEs. In 2017, 4,923 companies took part in the competition, of which 839 made it to the next round. In 2019, 5,399 companies were nominated.

Motivation and inspiration

On the stage created with this award in the mid-1990s, the medium-sized company, whose public image in the 1980s and early 1990s, in contrast to the economic boom of the 1950s, was subject to a largely negative connotation, should again attract more attention and recognition for its economic and social benefits are given within society.

Competition announcement

The competition area ( identical to the federal territory since 2002 ) is divided into twelve competition regions, with the states of Berlin , Bremen , Hamburg and Saarland each being assigned to their larger neighboring states of Brandenburg, Lower Saxony, Schleswig-Holstein and Rhineland-Palatinate.

Nomination criteria

The three-month nomination period ends on January 31st. Small and medium-sized companies from the service , trade , craft , trade and industry sectors that meet the following criteria are eligible; be set up for competition:

at least 3 years of stable activity in the market
at least 1 million euros in sales per year
at least 10 jobs
free of municipal or state participation
A self-nomination is excluded.

Selection criteria

A total of 13 juries - twelve juries representing the competition regions and a "federal jury" - subject the nominated companies to the following criteria:

Overall development of the company,
Creation and securing of jobs and training positions ,
Modernization and innovation ,
Commitment in the region ,
Service and customer proximity / marketing .

Price range

Twelve juries corresponding to the competition regions each award eight companies:

three “award winners” for the best results
five “finalists” for very good results

A “federal jury” awards various (“Premier”) special prizes, which can also be proposed to municipalities , banks , books or business promoters. The so-called “premier” status is only given to those who have already been “winners of the Grand Prix for medium-sized companies”.

The design of the award was developed in collaboration with the Leipzig University of Graphics and Book Art , in particular with Karsten IW Kunert.

Other effects

In a ranking carried out by the management consultancy isw Halle in 2011, the “Grand Prize for Medium-Sized Enterprises” came in first among 536 German business competitions. In 2012 he reached the top ten list of the best German participants in the “European Company Promotion Prize”. In 2015, the Company Change Award for the company with the best change management went to the Oskar Patzelt Foundation. The "Great Price of Medium-Sized Enterprises" is the only business competition whose quality management has been certified by DEKRA according to ISO 9001 annually since 2011 . As a non-profit organization, the Oskar Patzelt Foundation deliberately refrains from charging participation or processing fees; So you can neither "buy into" the competition, nor get rich from it. As a non-governmental organization, the foundation does not consume a single euro of tax money.

Individual evidence

↑ "Success for Everyone" - Leipzig Foundation honors German companies with distinction , Leipzig TV, January 21, 2013, 5:02 pm, 2:02 am.

↑ Großer Preis des Mittelstand - Award ceremony 2016 from Düsseldorf ( Memento of the original from October 27, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , September 24, 2016 @1@ 2