Entrepreneur Silke Koch (center) accepts the award from State Minister Verena Schäffer (right) and HWK Vice President Josef Trendelkamp. (Photo: © WHKT)
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June 2026
The seven chambers of skilled crafts in North Rhine-Westphalia, together with the WHKT (Westphalian Chamber of Skilled Crafts), have each awarded one company the Integration Prize. Integration Minister Verena Schäffer says this year's winners are role models that the state needs.
To mark German Diversity Day, the seven Chambers of Skilled Crafts in North Rhine-Westphalia and the West German Association of Chambers of Skilled Crafts (WHKT) are awarding the NRW Skilled Crafts Integration Prize for the fifth time to businesses for their outstanding achievements. The prize includes a cash award of €500.
Chamber of Crafts Cologne
Bernhard Günther Electrical Store, Cologne
The company currently employs 30 people, eleven of whom have an international background, including four apprentices. Their countries of origin include Albania, Eritrea, Italy, India, Iraq, Morocco, Pakistan, Syria, Turkey, and Ukraine. The company has been training apprentices since the 1960s – always including young people with a migration background. "We need suitable apprentices and employees," says Managing Director Laura Günther. "And if they are refugees or immigrants, we rise to the challenge and integrate them. Our world has always been diverse – and we want it to stay that way. For our company, everyone is equal. We give everyone a chance who, like us, is passionate about electrical engineering. Our society needs more skilled workers – and there are plenty of them living in Germany. They just need to be integrated. We see time and again with our employees that meaningful work enables the best integration." Especially in the last ten years, Elektrohaus Bernhard Günther has hired many young people with a migration background. The two managing directors and other employees help with bureaucratic hurdles that come with starting a new life in Germany and offer support with finding accommodation and dealing with government offices.
Dortmund Chamber of Crafts
Hans Kanngiesser GmbH & Co. KG, Dortmund
Founded in 1924, this family-run business is firmly rooted in the Ruhr region and offers a broad range of services: from classic electrical installations, lighting, wallboxes, smart building technology, and fire protection to network and communication technology, as well as sustainable energy solutions and electromobility. The award particularly recognizes the company's ongoing commitment to the training and employment of people with refugee and migration backgrounds. Over the past 25 years, the company has trained nearly 100 electricians, thus contributing to securing skilled workers in the region. Currently, five young people with non-German roots are undertaking apprenticeships. The successful integration of a Ukrainian refugee, now in his second year of training, is especially highlighted. He receives targeted support through individualized assistance, both linguistic and technical, such as AI-assisted translations of learning materials. This support is also available to other employees whose native language is not German. The integrative training concept also includes structured learning support, regular feedback sessions, and clearly defined training objectives. Language support, customer communication, and cultural awareness are integral components of the apprenticeship. Modern working conditions and innovative support: Britta Kanngiesser: "For us, integration isn't just about hiring someone. It's important to us that people feel at home with us, enjoy coming to work, can contribute, and truly become part of our team. Balancing language, education, and daily life is often a challenge. That's why we try to make workflows as simple and understandable as possible—including with digital solutions that facilitate daily work, learning, and communication. This helps new employees settle in more quickly and contribute more effectively."
Chamber of Crafts East Westphalia-Lippe in Bielefeld
Biber Tischlerei GmbH, Bielefeld
The carpentry workshop has been run by Erhan Yüksel since 2015. Originally from Kurdistan, he came to Bielefeld as an asylum seeker and first encountered Biber Carpentry as an intern. This internship was followed by an apprenticeship, subsequent work experience, and finally, studies in interior design. After successfully completing his studies, Erhan Yüksel returned to his professional roots and took over Biber Carpentry. His employees come from diverse national backgrounds. Besides aptitude for carpentry, the primary hiring criterion is teamwork: employees and apprentices must fit into the team – nationality, gender, and religion are irrelevant. An apprenticeship begins with a two-week internship. Currently, one apprentice is being trained, and a second will join in August. Managing Director Erhan Yüksel would like to offer even more people with a migration background opportunities. "Work is the best form of integration," the carpenter is convinced, based on his own experience.
Operations management
Craft policy
The Chambers of Skilled Crafts in Germany - HWK Münster
Chamber of Crafts Münster
Koch Canal Technology, Münster
The company employs people from ten nations, setting a strong example for successful integration in the skilled trades. Koch Kanaltechnik currently employs 30 people and four apprentices. In recent years, the company has hired five employees from Albania and provided them with intensive support as they settled in Germany. This commitment extends beyond work. The company funds a German language teacher who gives lessons to employees three times a week. They also support employees in obtaining their truck driver's licenses. In addition, Managing Director Silke Koch assists with finding accommodation, helps employees furnish their apartments with household goods, and provides practical support in their daily lives.
Chamber of Crafts Düsseldorf
Thomas Puppe Bakery GmbH & Co. KG, Neuss
This family-owned food company, headquartered in Neuss and operating at 16 locations throughout the greater Düsseldorf area with nearly 200 employees, trains an above-average number of apprentices with a migration background. It has consistently enabled trainees with refugee backgrounds to obtain vocational qualifications, secure permanent positions, and pursue further professional development. The countries of origin for its employees and trainees include Iran and Syria, Armenia and Morocco, Vietnam, Russia, and Ukraine. The proportion of trainees with foreign nationality at the family business was already 42 percent between 2016 and 2021 and has since climbed to 47 percent; nationwide, the figure for dual vocational training in the entire sector is only 15 percent. At the same time, 68,4 percent of the trainees at the Neuss bakery completed their apprenticeships successfully between 2016 and 2021, compared to other trades – and 69,4 percent of the apprenticeships newly registered since 2021 have either been completed with a passed exam or are currently actively working towards this goal.
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Integration Minister Verena Schäffer (Greens) attended the award ceremony in the Münster Chamber of Commerce district. "This year's award winners are the role models our country needs. They represent a North Rhine-Westphalia we can be proud of: cosmopolitan, pragmatic, and high-performing. This is integration in action, which makes us all successful."
WHKT President Berthold Schröder said: "The Integration Prize of the Skilled Trades in North Rhine-Westphalia demonstrates what makes our skilled trades strong: openness, cohesion, and the conviction that diversity is a driving force for innovation and future viability. Those who give people opportunities gain skilled workers, ideas, and social cohesion."
The integration award makes it clear that skilled workers and workers of foreign origin are not only welcome in the skilled trades, but are an integral part of a shared skilled trades culture, according to WHKT Managing Director Dr. Florian Hartmann.
"And although the issue of skilled worker immigration is one of the biggest bureaucratic hurdles, especially for small and medium-sized enterprises, we are convinced that we must further expand this pillar of attracting skilled workers to the trades. We need skilled workers, and we must ensure that they arrive at the companies in the best possible way, develop their skills there, and, above all, stay long-term. After all, it's about nothing less than our competitiveness."
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