The award winners from the skilled trades, with Minister of Economic Affairs Daniela Schmitt (left), Minister for Women's Affairs Katharina Binz (second from right), ISB board member Sandra Baumbach (right), and the President of the Rheinhessen Chamber of Skilled Crafts, Hans-Jörg Friese (center): Sabine, Julia and Lena Schmitz, Martina Schäfer, and Laura Ludwig. (Photo: © Alexander Sell / ISB)
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women in crafts - Theme specials
November 2023
Martina Schäfer has founded a hair salon for people with dementia, Sabine Schmitz continues to run the Schmitz GbR butcher shop, and Laura Ludwig focuses on sustainability in her carpentry business: female craft entrepreneurs from Rhineland-Palatinate have been awarded the Women's Founders Award.
Among the three winners of the Rhineland-Palatinate Women Entrepreneurs' Prize This year, Martina Schäfer and Sabine Schmitz are two entrepreneurs from the craft sector, and there was also the Special Prize "Crafts" The ISB awarded Laura Ludwig the prize. The prizes were presented as part of the Women Entrepreneurs’ Day of the Rhineland-Palatinate Ministry of Economic Affairs and Investment and Structure Bank Rhineland-Palatinate (ISB) in the foyer of the state development bank in Mainz.
The Prize for female founders who have been on the market for up to three years received Martina Schäfer from Essenheim (Mainz-Bingen district) and its Hair salon for people with dementiaThanks to her skilled approach, a visit to her hair salon is a valuable experience and a great relief for people with dementia and their families.
The price for Young entrepreneurs who have been on the market for three to five years received Anne Specht from Mainz with her Nest Café Bar.
The young entrepreneur offers a wide range of homemade products in her café in Mainz's Neustadt district, relying on regional suppliers, according to the jury. She has delighted customers with innovative ideas during the coronavirus pandemic. In the evenings, the café transforms into a cozy bar.
The Chambers of Crafts in Germany - Trier Chamber of Crafts
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The Chambers of Crafts in Germany - Koblenz Chamber of Crafts
For the Price of business succession the novel Sabine Schmitz from Landfleischerei Schmitz GbR from Bitburg. The Schmitz Country Butchery had to temporarily close the business after the flood disaster in 2021 and in 2022 the family lost husband, father and business owner Guido Schmitz.
With passion for the job and the enormous willingness to help from outside, the country butcher shop was able to reopen after just seven months, it was said. Sabine Schmitz was accompanied by her daughters Julia Schmitz (Master butcher and business economist HWK) and Lena Schmitz (cook), both top of their class.
The Special Prize "Crafts" ISB board member Sandra Baumbach awarded the entrepreneur Laura Ludwig and her carpentry shop "Furniture from the Gutshof GmbH & Co. KG" in Ober-Hilbersheim (Mainz-Bingen district).
The company manufactures its entire range of high-quality furniture from sustainable and controlled wood sources. The entrepreneur emphasizes resource-efficient processing during production.
The female founders' prize is endowed with 5.000 euros each, and the special "Crafts" prize is endowed with 2.500 euros.
Economics Minister Daniela Schmitt In her speech, she emphasized the importance of actively supporting and continuously optimizing the framework conditions for the startup scene. "As a state, we offer financial and advisory support for startups through a wide range of information, consulting, and financing options," said Schmitt.
A current focus is also on female entrepreneurs. "We want to raise awareness among women about the prospects of self-employment and support them in networking so that they have better access to funding and financing opportunities," said the minister.
Non-personal or anonymized information remains protected by tax secrecy. Disclosure to third parties is only allowed if no identification is possible and both states confirm that no harm to tax administration will occur. Minister for Women Katharina Binz emphasized the importance of supporting women in starting their own businesses: "I hope that many women will take the entrepreneurs honored today as role models and also courageously consider starting a business or taking over a company."
Female entrepreneurship is a Success factor for the business location Rhineland-Palatinate. It is always primarily men who start companies or take them over as part of a succession. According to 2023 Founding Report on the Founding Activity in Rhineland-Palatinate Only around 33 percent of the company start-ups in Rhineland-Palatinate last year were founded by women.
Binz emphasized: "As a society, we can only achieve true equality between men and women if at least as many women as men are at the helm of companies in the economy."
The Special Prize "Crafts" with a prize money of 2.500 euros ISB board member Sandra Baumbach to entrepreneur Laura Ludwig. "We are delighted to see how young and ambitious female entrepreneurs successfully implement their ideas and serve as role models for other women. Our clients include many successful female entrepreneurs. We are happy to support them in realizing their business ideas with funding products and investments," said Baumbach at the award ceremony.
This year’s Women Entrepreneurs’ Day addressed not only technical topics such as financing options for women entrepreneurs but also the Leadership culture and networking, On self-confident appearance and the skillful communication of one's own strengths are important factors for successful business management (not only) by women.
Source: ISB
Networking with the "Women Entrepreneurs in Crafts" The most important organizations in the craft sector include the Women entrepreneurs in the skilled trades, short UFH. With the current campaign "Women entrepreneurs in the skilled trades" They want to introduce women to the trades. Read more about it here.
DHB now also digital!Simply click here and register for the digital German Crafts Journal (DHB)!
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