Press room

The Mondragón Corporación Cooperativa (MCC) was a finalist in the "Milestones" European Business Award in the Globalisation category. This award is organised by the Ministry of Economic Affairs of the German Land of North Rhine-Westphalia. A Land which its President pointed out would, in a hypothetical European ranking, occupy sixth place in terms of Gross Domestic Product, immediately behind Spain and ahead of Holland. The award is given in co-operation with the Boston Consulting Group and the Handelsblatt economic daily.

140 companies from 13 European countries submitted entries for this second edition - the first took place in 2000. Approximately 25% of the entries were from outside Germany. The Jury, made up of German personalities from the world of business, politics, research and the universities, selected three finalists for each of the three categories: Globalisation, Turnaround and New Technologies, for both large-scale and medium sized enterprises. In total 18 enterprises were selected. MCC was selected as a finalist in the Globalisation category in the large-scale enterprise segment. First prize was awarded to the German company Heidelberg, a leader in printing machinery and in the application of new technologies and services in the graphic arts sector, with 26,000 workers in 170 countries and a turnover of 5,300 million euros last year. The finalists were the Austrian company Wienerberger and MCC.

The aim of the Milestones award is to recognise the outstanding results of companies and their contribution to the social environment in which they operate. In the case of MCC, among the reasons for its selection as a finalist, the Jury valued "the significant advances made in the internationalisation process and the fact that it is a large global co-operative, which aims to implement its culture and management style at an international level".

The Awards Ceremony took place in Dusseldorf's Rheinterrasse and was presided over by the President of the Land, Wolfgang Clement; the Minister for Economic Affairs, Ernst Schwanhold; the Chief Executive of the Boston Consulting Group in Germany, Volkhard Hofman and the Chairman of the Handelsblatt Editorial Group, Heinz-Werner Nienstedt.

At the gala dinner, hosted by a famous German TV presenter and with music from a young jazz orchestra, there were 600 people from the world of politics, the universities and business, including famous names from German industry, services and banking. To present the different categories, videos were shown about the finalists. The awards were then presented with a special mention for the other finalists.

At the end of the ceremony, which closed with a concert given by the famous US singer Gloria Gaynor, those attending were presented with a special edition of the Handelsblatt with an in-depth report about each of the finalists, including MCC with a report entitled "Mondragón creates jobs at the world level". The article highlights MCC's commitment to job creation and the fact that it "has managed to combine co-operative thought with economic success".

http://www.mondragon.mcc.es