Ziehl-Abegg, based in Southern Germany, has won five prizes at the German Stevie Awards for business. A jury of 50 awarded the industrial company gold, silver and bronze: for new products, the management and the company as a whole, in special recognition of the performances achieved by Ziehl-Abegg.
The German Stevie Awards is a business prize that was presented in Germany for the first time. The award is internationally recognised, especially in the United States and the Pacific region. The award ceremony was held at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Berlin. Renowned companies such as Hewlett Packard, Deutsche Post DHL or Coca Cola and Metro stood on the winner’s podium. “We are delighted that the inaugural German Stevie Awards are honouring such an outstanding group of winners,” says Michael Gallagher, President of the Stevie Awards. He described the award ceremony in German capital as an “historic event”.
The broad range of products from the industrial company in Southern Germany is reflected in the “New products” category: Ziehl-Abegg received a bronze Stevie for the bionic bio-fan and a gold one for the gearless electric drive for city buses (“ZAwheel”). “We are pleased to have been successful in such an environment,” emphasised Peter Fenkl, Chairman of the Board. He was presented with his own silver Stevie for his performance as “Manager of the Year”. Ziehl-Abegg as a whole also earned silver in the “Company of the year” category, just behind the sporting goods manufacturer Adidas which took gold in this section. Rainer Grill, Head of PR at Ziehl-Abegg, also received a silver Stevie as PR Manager of the Year. Fenkl is particularly pleased that the Stevie Award Organisation approached Ziehl-Abegg on its own initiative without any active promotion on the part of the company itself.
The Stevie Awards are presented in six programmes: the Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards, the German Stevie Awards, the American Business Awards, the International Business Awards, the Stevie Awards for Women in Business and the Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service. The Stevie Awards Programme receives well over 10,000 applications each year from organisations in more than 60 countries. Outstanding companies are also contacted directly by the jury. By honouring companies and organisations of all sizes and types, as well as the people behind them, the Stevies are recognising exceptional achievements in the world of work. The name of the award, also affectionately known as “The Stevies”, is derived from the Greek word “Stephanos” meaning “The Victor”.
