Press Release Karin Mateu Media Relations Tel.: +41 (0) 58 286 44 09 karin.mateu@ch.ey.com EY Entrepreneur Of The Year 2018: The award winners The winners have been selected: Christina Mair, Kristina Rebsamen and Caroline Staehelin (Globegarden GmbH), Emanuel and Daniela Steiner (FELFEL AG), George, Roger, Corinne and Fabian Kuratle (Kuratle Group AG), and Dr. Christian Brönnimann (DECTRIS AG) EY has awarded the reputed entrepreneurs prize for the 21st time in a row An honourable gala event with many prominent entrepreneurs at the TRAFO in Baden ZURICH, 26 OCTOBER 2018 An established and esteemed tradition entered the next round: Today, EY presented the Entrepreneur Of The Year awards in Switzerland; this is now the 21st year in succession. The categories are Services/Trade, Emerging Entrepreneur, Family Business and Industry / High-tech / Life Sciences. More than 100 guests from business, politics and culture joined the finalists and award winners to celebrate at the award ceremony in the TRAFO in Baden. Marcel Stalder, CEO of EY in Switzerland, is happy for the winners: Once again I am proud to see EY rewarding people who perform great entrepreneurial work with a pioneering spirit, courage, diligence and passion. They are a central part of the engine that keeps propelling the Swiss success model to the top position worldwide. The work of our independent jury is not easy because this year they again had the difficult task of choosing the final winners from among the many highly qualified participants. The entrepreneurs go through an intensive process with interviews and company visits, leading up to the final selection and granting of the award. The gala as held today in Baden is the culmination of a comprehensive programme in which EY promotes entrepreneurship and brings people together in all countries and regions
2 of the world. Those who have been among the finalists today are automatically a part of this valuable network of people and their companies which move and advance our world. This evening in Baden an Entrepreneur Of The Year Award for 2018 was presented to: Christina Mair, Kristina Rebsamen and Caroline Staehelin, Globegarden GmbH, Zürich Category Services/Trade Emanuel and Daniela Steiner, FELFEL AG, Zürich, Category Emerging Entrepreneur George, Roger, Corinne and Fabian Kuratle, Kuratle Group AG, Leibstadt Category Family Business Dr. Christian Brönnimann, DECTRIS AG, Baden-Dättwil Category Industry / High-tech / Life Sciences Globegarden GmbH: One idea, three women, 2,000 children When supply is out of sync with demand, supply has to be adjusted. This is exactly what the three founders of Globegarden have done. What set the ball rolling was a study attesting that family and career are not compatible with each other. According to the study, neither work nor a second child would be worthwhile an untenable finding in the 21st century. Christina Mair, Caroline Staehelin and Kristina Rebsamen acquired the necessary knowledge themselves, and in 2009 opened the first children's day-care centre; today Globegarden operates close to 50 facilities as children's day-care centres, kindergartens and nurseries across Switzerland. The company employs 600 people and offers over 100 apprenticeships. In the meantime, more than 2,000 children are being cared for. Since the company was founded, the focus has been on child-oriented, high-quality professional care and support. FELFEL AG: Pure enjoyment at the workplace There is a demand for healthy, regional, fresh and sustainably produced food and dishes not only at home but also at work. While large companies often have their own canteens, FELFEL s service is aimed at SMEs that would also like to offer their employees the best food in step with the times. Daniela and Emanuel Steiner founded their company in 2013, both coming to the food sector from other professions. Today, the company has more than 45 staff and over 200 customers serving a total of 25,000 employees. The incentive behind the idea was the lack of healthy, fast catering at the workplace. At the heart of FELFEL are specially
3 developed, intelligent refrigerators, which are stocked daily with fresh items and opened by the consumer using a badge. FELFEL s food scouts also develop their own recipes. Kuratle Group AG: A family success story, built on timber Founded in 1955 as a regional timber trading company, the Kuratle Group has developed into an internationally operating, full-range supplier in the wood processing industry. Led by George Kuratle and his three children Roger, Corinne and Fabian Kuratle in the second and third generation, the company serves the whole value chain from product development, trading in wood materials for the construction industry, warehousing and worldwide logistics, through to industrial prefabrication in a modern processing and cutting centre. The Kuratle Group, which employs more than 750 people worldwide, is characterised by an entrepreneurial spirit with a flexible approach, keen to learn and responsible in the way it deals with challenges. A flat organisational structure and direct communication appropriate to each level encourage the entrepreneurial thinking and activity of employees at all functional levels. The company's own platform for training and further education, KURATLE ACADEMY, provides the basis for staff development. DECTRIS AG: A company with (X-ray) clarity DECTRIS was founded in 2006, when Dr. Christian Brönnimann and his team at the Paul Scherrer Institute developed a previously unknown technology for X-ray cameras. This technology made it possible to deliver a completely new kind of images. The company concentrates on the development and production of high-quality, high-performance X-ray detectors for science and industry in order to open up new markets such as medical inspection, electron microscopy and X-ray inspection. The silent, fast detectors provide data that give the users a unique competitive advantage. DECTRIS has attracted worldwide attention with its research, manufacturing and distribution of high-performance cameras. The company is currently focusing on the launch of a new product line in the field of electron microscopy, and on entering into the field of diagnostic imaging in the MedTech sector. Worldwide comparability The Entrepreneur Of The Year Award is the world s biggest and most prestigious award for entrepreneurial achievements. The competition applies the same criteria across the globe. It is hosted at 150 EY locations. Several thousand entrepreneurs and companies apply for the
4 coveted title each year. This is truly unique. An independent jury then selects the World Entrepreneur Of The Year from all the national winners, in early summer of the following year. In 2018, Tom Hanan, last year s award winner in the Services and Trade category, represented Swiss entrepreneurship. In 2018, the Entrepreneur Of The Year was held in Switzerland for the 21st time in succession. It is supported and endorsed by Credit Suisse as programme partner, with the sponsors being AMAG, watchmakers H. Moser & Cie., Die Mobiliar and SWISS. The independent jury in 2018 - Dr. Adrienne Corboud Fumagalli, CEO Deeption SA - Claude R. Cornaz, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Vetropack Holding AG and Entrepreneur Of The Year 2012 - Dr. Paul J. Hälg, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Sika AG and Dätwyler Holding AG - Dr. Sara and Christoph Hürlimann, founders of zahnarztzentrum.ch AG and Entrepreneur Of The Year 2010 - Dr. Jan Lichtenberg, CEO of InSphero AG and Entrepreneur Of The Year 2015 - Simon Michel, CEO of Ypsomed AG - Dr. Edouard Pfister, entrepreneur - Prof. Dr. Thomas Zellweger, Director of the Center for Family Business at the University of St. Gallen (HSG) Photos of the winners will be available from today Friday, October 26, 2018, 9.30 pm, at https://www.ey.com/ch/en/newsroom/news-releases. All photos of the event can be viewed from Monday, 29 October, 4.00 pm, at http://www.eoy-gallery.ch/de/2018/. EY Assurance Tax Transactions Advisory About the global EY organization The global EY organization is a leader in assurance, tax, transaction, legal and advisory services. We leverage our experience, knowledge and services to help build trust and confidence in the financial markets and in economies all over the world. We are ideally equipped for this task with well-trained employees, strong teams, excellent services and outstanding client relations. Our global mission is to
5 drive progress and make a difference by building a better working world for our people, for our clients and for our communities. The global EY organization refers to all member firms of Ernst & Young Global Limited (EYG). Each EYG member firm is a separate legal entity and has no liability for another such entity s acts or omissions. Ernst & Young Global Limited, a UK company limited by guarantee, does not provide services to clients. For more information, please visit www.ey.com. EY s organization is represented in Switzerland by Ernst & Young Ltd, Basel, with ten offices across Switzerland, and in Liechtenstein by Ernst & Young AG, Vaduz. In this publication, EY and we refer to Ernst & Young Ltd, Basel, a member firm of Ernst & Young Global Limited.