Ueli Forster

Ulrich Niklaus Willi Forster (born October 20, 1939 in St. Gallen ) is a Swiss textile entrepreneur.

Ueli Forster (2005)

Life

Ueli Forster grew up as a citizen of St. Gallen and Neunkirch (SH) in St. Gallen. After graduating from high school in 1958, he studied economics at the then St. Gallen University of Commerce (today: University of St. Gallen ). In 1963 he completed this course with a licentiate (lic.oec.). He is married to the politician Erika Forster-Vannini , who was a member of the Council of States for the Canton of St. Gallen from 1995 to 2011 and also presided over it in 2009/2010. The couple has four now grown children.

job

In 1963 Ueli Forster joined his father's company Forster Willi & Co., St. Gallen, and thus into the embroidery industry. In 1964 he took over the management. From 1971 to 2010 he was Chairman of the Board of Directors. After purchasing Jacob Rohner AG, Rebstein, in 1988, he was also its president, and in 1992 the two companies were merged to form Forster Rohner AG. In 2002 Inter-Spitzen AG was taken over by Forster Rohner AG. Today Forster Rohner AG is a leading provider in the high-quality embroidery sector with subsidiaries in Romania, China and Bosnia. On January 1, 2007, Ueli Forster handed over the operational management to his son Emanuel and his daughter Caroline. In 2009, Ueli Forster founded Bionic Composite Technologies AG (Biontec), which specializes in carbon technology, together with his wife and two partners, and has been Chairman of the Board of Directors ever since. Earlier mandates included board memberships at Frisco Findus AG, Rorschach (1979 to 1989), Spinnerei am Uznaberg, Uznach (1990 to 2006), and at Helvetia St.Gallen (1994 to 2008).

Economic policy

In the course of his professional activity, Ueli Forster was involved in numerous associations and also became an important political exponent at the Swiss level. Among other things, he was President of the St.Gallen Trade and Industry Association (1978 to 1986), member of the Commercial Directorate (Chamber of Commerce, 1987 to 1991), then founding President of the St.Gallen-Appenzell Chamber of Commerce and Industry (1991 to 1997) , President of the Association of Swiss Embroidery Exporters for many years, President of the Association of Swiss Yarn and Fabric Exporters and President of economiesuisse (2001 to 2006). He was also a board member of the Swiss Textile Association (1994 to 2009) and a member of the bank council of the Swiss National Bank (2002 to 2007).

Web links

• Ueli Forster in the history of Forster Rohner AG (Forster Rohner AG website)
• Change of president at Economiesuisse: Ueli Forster succeeds Andres Leuenberger. In: NZZ online . October 31, 2001, accessed December 22, 2013 . 
• A portrait of Ueli Forster in the Handelszeitung, a Swiss business magazine, on November 21, 2001
• Economiesuisse is confident and ready for reform: Ueli Forster finds the right tone in a difficult environment on Business Day. In: NZZ online. September 2, 2006, accessed December 22, 2013 . 
• Ueli Forster in a portrait of personally , a Swiss magazine in the field of communication