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10/24/16

Fasihi among the Top 25 Medium-Sized Enterprises in Germany

The Ludwigshafen software company Fasihi GmbH may be pleased about receiving another award: Chief executive Saeid Fasihi was awarded with the badge of honour in the nationwide competition at a gala event for the Grand Prize for Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises in Berlin on 22 October.

Grand Prize for SMEs 2016: Our company has been awarded with the badge of honour

Galaveranstaltung in Berlin: Gruppenbild mit allen Ausgezeichneten.

Our company may be pleased about receiving another award: Chief executive Saeid Fasihi was awarded with the  Badge of Honour in the nationwide competition at a gala event for the Grand Prize for Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises in Berlin on 22 October. Thus, we belong to the Top 25 medium-sized enterprises among the 4791 ones nominated from all over Germany. Saeid Fasihi: “After winning the Grand Prize 2014 on a Rhineland-Palatinate level, we are very proud now of reaching the next step and to belong to the best enterprises throughout the country. This wouldn’t have been possible without the commitment of our team. I would therefore like to thank all our employees and ask them to continue with the same enthusiasm."

The awards were handed over to the 22 companies by the members of the board of the Oskar-Patzelt-Stiftung (foundation), Dr Helfried Schmidt and Petrag Tröger. The badge of honour represents an appreciation for the prize winners who have most deeply impressed the jury and for remarkable corporate developments by prize winners of the last year.

The Grand Prize for Medium-Sized Enterprises is considered to be the most important business award in Germany.

The initiator and founder of the Oskar-Patzelt-Stiftung, chairman Dr. Helfried Schmidt, highlighted in his welcome address that all entrepreneurs should receive daily applause and encouragement: “Because they preserve the rare gift of organising work in a way that employment for third parties will be created, without priorly asking for subsidies from the state. And in doing so, they generate such a high turnover that the state will increasingly get its share too, through taxation and duties. Therefore, this evening is dedicated to you, dear business women and men. Actually, every one of you deserves an award.”

Dr. Wolfgang Schäuble, Federal Minister of Finance: “The award winners of the competition stand for accomplishments and attitudes we wish for all enterprises in our social market economy: successful entrepreneurship by a sustainable business model combined with a sense of responsibility and social commitment. I congratulate the nominees as well as the prize winners of this year’s competition most warmly and wish them continued success. You are indispensable for Germany as a business location.”

v.r.n.l.: Fasihi GmbH, Saeid Fasihi, Geschäftsführer; HG Hans Geiger Formenbau GmbH, Eva Söhnlein, Leiterin Marketing; caleg Schrank und Gehäusebau GmbH, Dieter Lubert, Geschäftsführer; Consist Software Solutions GmbH, Martin Lochte-Holtgreven, Geschäftsführer; (Foto: Oskar-Patzelt-Stiftung, Boris Löffert)

Competition received great feedback   

No other economic competition in Germany, except the one offered by the Leipzig Oskar-Patzelt-Stiftung since 1994,  has achieved such a great and persistent feedback for over several years now. Moreover, there is no remuneration for the award. For the entrepreneurs it’s only a matter of honour, public recognition and confirmation of their achievements, without any financial incentives.

Among the companies are both newcomers establishing themselves within the last five years and those established over 150 years ago that have survived numerous crises, monetary reforms or even wars.

Five criteria for the nomination for the Grand Prize for the German SMEs:

  • the overall development of a comany
  • the procurement and safeguarding of jobs and vocational education
  • the company's strategic orientation regarding modernisation and innovation
  • its commitment in the region
  • the service provided, its closeness to customers and its marketing strategy

Required are excellent achievements in all five criteria.

According to the host, only those companies are nominated for the competition steering a path characterised by strong values, clear strategies and high flexibility. Among them are companies having gathered experiences in coping with crises and structural upheavals over several generations, and they have done so with great innovative strength. These are companies committed to people and contributing to the stabilisation of their region.

The prize is intended to improve the image of small and medium-sized companies in public, to raise public awareness regarding the relationship between a "healthy Mittelstand - strong economy - more jobs", the popularisation of success stories and the promotion of networking in medium-sized companies.

Already its nomination for the competition qualifies a company, in a clearly recognisable way, to be part of an elite in Germany. However, the competition does not explicitly ask for business results, employment or innovation key figures, but it rates a company as to its responsibility towards society. About only one among a thousand companies in Germany will be nominated for the competition", writes the Oskar-Patzelt- Stiftung on their website.