Winner of the “Grand Prize for Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises”
On September 13th, we were once again honored to participate in the "Grand Prize for Small and Medium-Sized Businesses" gala in Würzburg. Just being invited to be recognized among Germany's best companies was a great honor. After being named a finalist last year, we celebrated another success this year: HEICO Aircraft Maintenance GmbH is the award winner!
This award fills us with pride – not only as a company, but above all as a team. Behind this recognition are the people who shape our company's path every day with passion, inventiveness, and perseverance. Especially in turbulent economic times, it has been proven that reliability, innovation, and solidarity are our strongest resources.
The "Grand Prize for Small and Medium-Sized Businesses," initiated by the Oskar Patzelt Foundation, is considered one of Germany's most important business awards. It evaluates companies not solely on their numbers, but on their entirety: job creation and safeguarding, innovative strength, customer proximity, regional commitment, and social responsibility. It is precisely this holistic approach that makes the award so valuable—because it recognizes what constitutes the core of our daily work.
Every year, several thousand companies from across Germany are nominated for the "Grand Prize for Small and Medium-Sized Businesses." The nomination itself is considered an honor, as it is only possible upon recommendation. HEICO Aircraft Maintenance GmbH was nominated by the city of Schkeuditz and the North Saxony District Office. Of the numerous nominees, only a few make it to the jury's shortlist, and even fewer make it to the finals – and only a small selection is ultimately honored as award winners per state. The fact that we were one of the few companies honored to receive the "Grand Prize" this year demonstrates how outstanding our team's performance was compared.
The motto of this year's competition was "Stormy Times." For us, this motto was more than just a motto—it unfortunately became a reality. After the fire at our new facility earlier this year, the entire team had to adapt to this new, extreme situation, because despite good plans and preparations for emergencies, you simply can't rehearse this situation.
The gala evening in Würzburg provided a festive setting and, at the same time, gave us an opportunity to pause, feel gratitude, and look ahead. We don't see this award as the end of our journey, but rather as the first step on our journey toward hopefully soon overcoming these "stormy times."
Our thanks go to everyone who made this success possible – our employees, who work with full commitment every day, our partners who support us with trust, and our customers who have stood by us and helped us.
Our HEICO Aircraft Maintenance team on site:
- Dieter Krah, Managing Partner
- Sandra Meyer, management assistant
- Emilis Daraskevicius, Team Leader Stores
- André Rohland, Project Manager Organizational Development & Controlling
- Tobias Bieder, NDT Certifying Staff
Dieter Krah, Managing Partner, HEICO Aircraft Maintenance GmbH.
