German Stevie Awards now also open to organizations from Switzerland

The German Stevie Awards are a high-profile business award for the German-speaking European corporate world, recognizing outstanding achievements in over 200 different categories awards. They are part of the Stevie® Awards, which among other things host the prestigious International Business Awards® and receive more than 12,000 entries from over 70 countries each year in seven competition programs. The German Stevie Awards were launched in 2014. The initiators had already deliberately chosen the name "German Stevie Awards" at the time because they wanted to signal that the Stevies are more than just a country award.

Open to the entire German-speaking region

Now these considerations from back then are being implemented: Starting with the 2020 competition year, the German Stevie Awards will open up the participation boundaries and will now be open to all organizations operating in a country where German is an official language. This applies to Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg and Belgium. Geographically, these countries form a German language area in Central Europe. The westernmost point where German or a German dialect is the current colloquial language is the municipality of Rambruch in Luxembourg, and the easternmost is the Austrian municipality of Deutsch Jahrndorf in Burgenland. In the north, the German municipality of List on Sylt is the end of the linguistic area, and in the south, the Swiss municipality of Zermatt on the Matterhorn.

Organizations of all sizes, public and private, for-profit or non-profit, as well as individuals from the business community are eligible to participate. Michael Gallagher, president and founder of the Stevie Awards, is pleased "that we are now inviting all Swiss, Austrian, German, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg and Belgian business leaders and innovators to submit their achievements and successes and face international German-speaking competition."

Just one more business award?

According to the German Stevie Awards, what is at stake is nothing more or less than the Business Champions League in German-speaking Europe. Gallagher sees quite big chances for the Swiss participants in the award, after all they come from one of the most stable economies in the world. "I'm eager to see the entries from Switzerland, which has outstanding players especially in the service sector with its trading and financial companies, but also shines in tourism and industry, for example in chemicals and pharmaceuticals, watch and precision instrument manufacturing, mechanical engineering and food."

Companies from Switzerland would benefit in many ways from winning a Stevie Award. These range from increased media and public international attention to positive employer branding effects and new networking and acquisition opportunities. By applying, companies show that they recognize the achievements of their employees. In addition, applicants benefit from the jury's qualified feedback on their applications. These comments provide insight, into the strengths and weaknesses of the application and/or the company. And because the award ceremonies are streamed live, Stevie winners receive international exposure through the broadcast alone. In addition, the Stevie Awards PR agency creates European, regional and local awareness for the Stevie winners.

Submission deadline starts on September 11, 2019

All companies and organizations may submit as many nominations as they wish free of charge - in English, of course. The application phase of the 6th German Stevie Awards will start on September 11, 2019, and all those who submit their applications by the first deadline for participation, December 4, 2019, will benefit from a discount of 25 euros on the award fees per successful nomination. Several jury panels will then determine the gold, silver and bronze award winners, who will be presented with their trophies at a ceremony on May 8, 2020. Each award winner will receive a trophy according to their winning level in gold, silver or bronze. For the International Business Awards® 2019 the two Swiss companies DHL Express based in Muttenz and Swisscard AECS from Horgen each won two Stevie Awards.

An overview of all winners of the German Stevie Awards 2019 can be found at https://stevieawards.com/gsa/2019-gewinner-der-german-stevie-awards listed.