Mulfingen, 23 October 2020

It was a moment of great pride and immense joy yesterday evening when Gerhard Sturm, founder and honorary chairman of the supervisory board, his son Ralf Sturm, partner and member of the supervisory board, together with Stefan Brandl, CEO ebm-papst Group, found themselves being awarded the prestigious “EY Entrepreneur Of The Year™” in the category “Established enterprises”. For the 24^th time, the auditing and consulting firm EY acknowledges the best owner-managed small- and medium-sized companies in Germany. Winning this award, ebm-papst will represent Germany at the “World Entrepreneur Of The Year” next year in Monte Carlo.
The award in the second category “Young enterprises” went to the industry 4.0 enterprise ASCon Systems GmbH from Stuttgart.

Stefan Brandl, Chairman of the Management Board: “We accept this prestigious distinction on behalf of all our staff throughout the ebm-papst Group – after all, it is their tremendous commitment and enthusiasm which drive our company and help us get ahead that vital bit every single day. Kudos to our founder Gerhard Sturm, whose entrepreneurial valor and nerve in the decades he was at the helm, partnered with his infinite faith in his all his crew, made the company what it is today. His values are intrinsically engrained and embedded in the corporate ebm-papst culture and spirit.”  

“We really appreciate this honor, for such an award is a positive and welcome signal in these unstable times”, says Ralf Sturm, partner and member of the supervisory board. “Relying on our staff for innovative strength, the well-being of our staff is of top priority and we do everything we possibly can in terms of precaution and hygiene provisions to make sure this well-being is not compromised in any way.”

For the very first time in the long history of the award, the winners were announced during a virtual ceremony, with news reader Judith Rakers acting as moderator of the event.

This year, 19 enterprises made it into the finals. An independent panel nominated the entrepreneurs for the “EY Entrepreneur Of The Year 2020” award. The key criteria they applied to their selection were entrepreneurship, innovative strength and personal commitment.

Hartmut Jenner, CEO at Kärcher, used his laudatory speech to ebm-papst to refer to the successful development of the group. In every household today, so Jenner, more than 20 products of the global leader in fans and motors can be found hidden away. And ebm-papst is present wherever air needs to be moved intelligently and quietly, drives need to be run precisely, heating systems need to be operated at maximum efficiency or electronics need to be cooled to the tee. The perfect interaction between motor, aerodynamics and electronics are what all the engineering work is focused on. With a portfolio of more than 20,000 active products, so Jenner, the company offers a solution for practically every application in the field of ventilation and drive engineering.

Jenner went on to say that what we now know as ebm-papst Group started out in 1963 as ebm (Elektrobau Mulfingen GmbH & Co. KG), with Gerhard Sturm and Heinz Ziehl joining forces to found a company solely focused on producing small external-rotor motors. The present portfolio comprises solutions for different industries, such as ventilation, air-conditioning and refrigeration, heating, automotive mechanical engineering, information technology, catering/household appliances, intralogistics, as well as medical engineering.

For many decades now, ebm-papst has been strictly committed to and resolutely promoted sustainability so that each new product the company develops is better than its predecessor in both ecological and economical respect.

For the future, the company follows this course with their “GreenIntelligence” label which stands for new solutions combining top energy efficiency with the benefits of digital interconnectivity. 

As Jenner concluded, the winner’s success is clearly down to a highly motivated team and a corporate culture that inspires and motivates all staff. Consequently, in keeping with this corporate culture, ebm-papst offers flexible working hour schemes, programs for older staff and schemes to make it easier for staff to balance their family and employment responsibilities.

Gerhard Sturm, founder of the ebm-papst Group, expressed his heartfelt gratitude when accepting the award. He had, he said, always seen himself as a coach more than as an entrepreneur.