"In times when professions are changing rapidly, it becomes all the more important to build on employees who view their work as more than a job, who pass on their knowledge to the younger generation," said Mayor Edith Schreiner. She praised the longstanding commitment of employees celebrating their anniversaries and also complimented the employer: "Employees work for 40 or 50 years for the same company only if they feel valued."
Afterwards Dr.-Ing. Scheringer offered his personal thanks to Rolf Breig, Bernd Winkler and Günter Bürkle for 40 years of commitment for Meiko and emphasised the individual accomplishments of each employee for the company. Isabell Brunnenkant and Harald Föhrenbach, who have both been with the company for 40 years, could not attend the celebration in person. Special gratitude was extended to the Head of the International Key Account Dietmar Zapf, who was celebrating his gold anniversary. For 50 years, he not only worked on the market but also set the direction internally, doing so time and again with commitment and determination. Dietmar Zapf began his career with the company as a technical draughtsman and initially took on a leadership position as a head of sales and later as international head of sales. Today Dietmar Zapf heads the International Key Account, a department he built up and shaped in his 60s. "Without his contribution, we woudn't be where we are today," acknowledges Stefan Scheringer. In light of his colleague's upcoming retirement in spring 2019, Scheringer said: "Dietmar Zapf has definitely secured a place in the annals of Meiko history."
The head of the company considers trust to be the mainspring of the exceedingly good working relationship. It is a value that he included in his code of values many years ago and that he lives by every day. This is also reflected in the company's low turnover. Even today, with 1,300 employees at the Offenburg location, turnover is less than one percent.
After Mayor Edith Schreiner presented the honorary certificate on behalf of the minister president of Baden-Württemberg, she again thanked the employees celebrating their anniversiaries for their accomplishment and thanked the company management for the positive contribution to the development of Offenburg during the 17 years she has been in office.
The CEO of the MEIKO Group, Stefan Scheringer, took the opportunity to personally thank Mayor Schreiner once more for the many years of trust and cooperation with her and the city of Offenburg. "Offenburg", said Scheringer, "has changed in a very positive direction over the years Edith Schreiner has been in office."