Construction company Koch AG wins the Raiffeisen Entrepreneur Award Eastern Switzerland
The winner of the Raiffeisen Entrepreneur Award Eastern Switzerland has been determined: Koch AG from Appenzell prevailed against 62 SMEs from the region on November 9. The audience award went to Bütschwil Käse AG.
The Koch AG company from Appenzell is active in road construction and civil engineering and operates a gravel and concrete plant as well as an excavation and gravel washing plant. Environmental protection is a major concern for the family business, which is run by Urs, Benno and Sacha Koch. Thanks to a stationary washing plant, up to 75 percent of the excavated material containing gravel is recycled, transports are massively reduced and the volume of landfill is conserved. This ensures an environmentally oriented supply and disposal of construction materials.
Endowed with 10,000 francs
Urs P. Gauch, Head of Corporate Clients at Raiffeisen Switzerland, particularly emphasizes the courage to find new solutions: "With Koch AG, we have found a winner that creates several added values with an innovative idea - not least for the environment." Koch AG thus prevailed over the five other finalists to win the entrepreneurial prize worth 10,000 Swiss francs.
Audience Award presented to Bütschwil Käse AG
In addition to the entrepreneurial prize awarded by the expert jury, the public was able to vote for their personal favorite in the run-up to the award ceremony. Bütschwil Käse AG received the public prize of 5,000 Swiss francs in front of around 300 guests. The event was moderated by Annina Campell and rounded off by a guest speech from Bernhard Heusler, former president of FC Basel.
The Raiffeisen Entrepreneur Award Eastern Switzerland is a pilot project. An expansion of the Entrepreneur Award to other regions in Switzerland will be examined after the evaluation of the pilot project.
