Encouragement of the nation
Encouraging the nation was an entrepreneur competition initiated by Das Örtliche in 2004 .
Originally under the title “Local Heroes - Mutmacher der Nation”, the competition aims to target German medium-sized companies. We are looking for entrepreneurs whose history and achievements encourage others. Several hundred participants apply for the title. In addition to prizes with a total value of over 50,000 euros, free advertising is of interest to them.
Participation and procedure
The competition is aimed at small and medium-sized companies whose entrepreneurs have mastered difficult phases or have become successful with ideas or clever management. Companies from all industries can apply, provided they have fewer than 500 employees and have been active for at least one year.
The application period lasts from mid-January / mid-February to the end of September. During this period, “nominees for the state victory” are selected from the applicants for each federal state on a quarterly basis. At the end of September there were three nominees per federal state. The respective national winner is then determined from these. These are invited to Berlin, where the three encouragers of the nation are announced.
Award winners
2004:
- Walid Aziz: The first winner, Walid Aziz, graduated from school without leaving secondary school, started an automotive apprenticeship and became a master mechanic when he was 21. In 1999 he rented his first truck and drove alone for six weeks before hiring his first employee. Today his company Transport-Logistik-Systeme has over 100 employees.
2005:
- Volker Schubert Volker Schubert started his own business in the GDR. After an accident, the above-leg amputee waived a disability pension in order to work in a business. Schubert started on his own, today the electrician from Saxony-Anhalt has 95 employees.
2006:
- Dagmar Vogt: Dagmar Vogt's company plans factories for solar systems. The stock market crash caused a large decline in orders. For more than a year there was no work for the employees of "ib vogt GmbH". The Berliner decided against layoffs and bridged the difficult economic situation with private reserves. In 2019 Dagmar Vogt employed 71 people with offices in 6 countries. In 2018, part of the Egyptian solar park Benban was realized by ib vogt GmbH.
2007:
- Uli Klippe: Uli Klippe saved two insolvent companies and thus 140 jobs. As the commercial manager of the wood processing companies in Amt Neuhaus and Anklam, Uli Klippe saw the crisis coming. But the owner at the time did not listen to his warning words. And so it happened, as it had to happen: bankruptcy threatened. Uli Klippe did everything in his power to keep his colleagues' businesses and jobs - and made it two hours before the scheduled foreclosure auction.
2008:
- Ivonne Derstappen: Ivonne Derstappen took over her parents' craft business at the age of 26 after her father died in an accident. The business administration graduate has since led the company with over 60 employees.
2010:
- Roland Arnold: The car mechanic Roland Arnold has been converting vehicles for disabled people for over 20 years. During this time he managed to lead his company Paravan in Aichelau from being founded on his parents' farm to the world market leader for individually adapted vehicles for the disabled. "The success story of Roland Arnold fascinated us and demanded the greatest respect," said juror Barbara Faber.
- Harald Hausmann: The farmer and veterinary trained Harald Hausmann expanded the Halberstadt slaughterhouse into a group of companies and saved 40 jobs from liquidation without government support.
- Ricarda Wilhelm: Ricarda Wilhelm, a former teacher, only built up the private school Universitas in Rostock with the help of family members and friends , in which 70 "children are happy to perform and learn together until they graduate".
Patrons and jury
The patrons are u. a. Christian Wulff and Lothar Späth .
The composition of the jury has changed slightly over the years.
The following people have been members of the jury since 2005:
- Christian Wulff, then Federal President of Germany
- Lothar Späth, Chairman of the Jenoptik Supervisory Board.
- Susanne Birkenstock, designer and shoe entrepreneur
- Peter Dussmann : Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the Dussmann Group
- Gertrud Höhler, independent economic and political advisor and journalist.
- Jette Joop - entrepreneur and designer
- Gerd Kühlhorn: Editor-in-chief of the business magazine impulse
- Barbara Faber: Managing Director of DasÖrtliche Service- und Marketinggesellschaft mbH.
- Waltraud Wolf: Chairwoman of the Board of the Association of German Guarantee Banks and managing director of the BBB Bürgschaftsbank zu Berlin-Brandenburg GmbH.
Web links
- Former website ( memento from September 25, 2010 in the Internet Archive )
Individual evidence
- ^ History - ib vogt. Retrieved October 28, 2019 .