The family enterprise in Bietigheim wins contest put on by the Harvard Clubs of Germany

The 2012 German Entrepreneur Award in the category Business Succession goes to Dürr Dental AG in Bietigheim-Bissingen, Germany. Chairman Martin Dürrstein and his brother Peter Dürrstein accepted the award on Monday evening, 6 November, at the Opera Tower in Frankfurt. “As a third-generation family enterprise we are thrilled with this recognition of our exemplary business succession model“, said Chairman Dürrstein.

Dürr Dental was competing for the first time in the contest held every two years since 2006 by the Harvard Clubs of Germany. The goal is to pay tribute to role models in bold entrepreneurial initiative and to raise public awareness of family enterprises. The German Entrepreneur Award is given in the four categories of Start-up, Growth Enterprise, Business Succession and Social Entrepreneur. A renowned judging panel from science and industry narrowed the contestants for the German Entrepreneur Award down to eight finalists —two per category— in an elaborate process consisting of several stages. In the last round, which was held only a few hours before the awards ceremony, Dürr Dental had to introduce and prove itself to the judging panel in a 20-minute presentation.

In Frankfurt’s Opera Tower, Martin and Peter Dürrstein explained how the brothers Karl and Wilhelm Dürr from the town of Gechingen in the Black Forest founded Dürr Dental AG in 1941 as a precision engineering tools workshop in Stuttgart and how the internationally active Dürr Dental AG emerged from it. Today the head office is located in Bietigheim-Bissingen, where a staff of about 390 are employed in production, research and development, purchasing, distribution and marketing. The Dürr Dental Group currently employs approximately 1000 workers and reached sales of 200 million euros in 2011. It is represented by its own personnel in 30 countries. The third generation of the family has been running the company since 2004.

The Award includes participation in an Executive Program at the Harvard Business School in Boston, one of the most prestigious business schools in the world.

Find out more about at http://www.deutscher-unternehmer-preis.de/