Awards

For the 23rd time, the Oskar Patzelt Foundation is looking for the best medium-sized privately owned companies in the “Grand Prix Grand Prix for Medium-Sized Privately Owned Companies” competition. Since it was first awarded in 1995, this prize has become one of the most important prizes in German industry. Companies may not put themselves forward as candidates in this renowned competition – according to Die Welt, it is Germany’s most coveted industrial prize – they must be nominated by third parties. Only around one company in every thousand in Germany is nominated. This year, Pfanzelt Maschinenbau GmbH was nominated by Peter Däubler, economic consultant of the Ostallgäu district, Bavaria. The nomination itself is a distinction, confirming Pfanzelt’s place among Germany’s entrepreneurial elite.

An independent jury will now evaluate the nominated companies on the basis of the various competitive criteria such as commercial success, innovation, employment and employee training as well as the company’s sense of social responsibility:

“Companies that are nominated have already received a first class distinction,” said Barbara Stamm, Speaker of the Bavarian State Assembly. Paul Pfanzelt, owner and managing director of Pfanzelt Maschinenbau GmbH was delighted about the nomination: “We regard the nomination in itself as a great distinction and honour for our company.”

The Kuratorium für Waldarbeit und Forsttechnik e.V. (KWF e.V. / “Foundation for Forestry Work and Technology”) has recognised Pfanzelt as an innovative company. At the Interforst 2014 trade fair in Munich, Paul Pfanzelt received the special “Innovative Company” prize of the KWF Innovation Medals 2014. “Pfanzelt has been able to provide the forestry industry with innovative and contemporary products for many years now. This prize is intended to recognise the company’s long-term commitment, its wealth of ideas, its exemplary training of young talent and its customer-orientated product philosophy,” said Georg Windisch, Director of the Woods and Forestry Dept. of the Bavarian Ministry for Food, Agriculture and Forestry at the award ceremony. Background on the KWF innovation medals On 16 July at the Interforst trade fair, Georg Windisch recognised new, trailblazing technical developments in forestry engineering and an outstanding company with the coveted innovation medals of the Foundation for Forestry Work and Technology (KWF e.V.). The prize winners were selected by a jury of experts. They were selected from a field of 30 nominees – in five categories.