The STEP Award is back! After its establishment last year by Infraserv Höchst and F.A.Z.-Institut, the business competition will again be honoring growing firms that have shown their commitment to the "Sprit to expand", as the STEP Award motto goes. The competition is open to small and medium-sized production and process companies based in Germany, Austria and Switzerland and operating in the chemical, pharmaceutical, life-science, biotech, nanotechnology and material-science industries. This year, the competition was expanded to the cutting-edge renewable-energy industry.
"Following last year's enormous success, we decided to hold the STEP Award competition again and recognize this year's best growing companies. Our decision to open the prize to the renewable-energy industry adds a vital ingredient to our previous mix of promising industries poised on the cutting edge. Due to the tremendous response in 2006, we are also accepting entries from enterprises in Austria and Switzerland for the first time this year," said Roland Mohr, Managing Director of Infraserv Höchst and co-initiator of the STEP Award.
The grand prize-winner will receive a total of € 50,000 in cash and a comprehensive consulting and service package worth the same amount. The services in the package will be provided by the STEP Award's sponsors and partners to help the prize-winner during its upcoming growth phase. They range from patent search, strategy consulting, finance, and logistics right up to providing access to technical workshops, advising on business development, finding technology partners and giving legal and communications seminars.
Since immediate access to space and infrastructure is a crucial factor for success for expanding companies, the prize-winner will also have the option of using laboratory and office facilities in Industriepark Höchst rent-free for two years.
Four category prizes worth € 10,000 each
In addition to the grand prize, there will also be prizes for the best growing companies in the following categories: Market/Customer, Processes, Product/Technology and Finance. Each one of these prizes is worth € 5,000 in cash and € 5,000 in services and consulting.
All the STEP Award candidates will enjoy long-lasting benefits for their business model thanks to an independent expert assessment and their participation in the STEP Award community's networking activities.
Main sponsors: Commerzbank, Mainova EnergieDienste and Sanofi-Aventis
The main sponsors of the STEP Award 2007 are Commerzbank, Mainova EnergieDienste and Sanofi-Aventis. There is also a long list of other companies and institutions taking part as sponsors and network partners: Arthur D. Little; Hessen Agentur; Wirtschaftsförderung Frankfurt; Infraserv Logistics; Rheinhold & Mahla; Mayer, Brown, Rowe & Maw LLP; INI-Novation GmbH; MSU Consulting; neeb & partner; Patentanwaltskanzlei Dr. Ackermann; Siemens AG; SVPG GmbH; and Rooijen & Partners Ltd.
STEP Award – The 2006 success story
The grand prize-winner in the first round of the STEP Award was GENEART, which accepted the STEP Award cup at last year's celebratory gala from Michael Gross, a several-time Olympic gold medal-winner and World Champion. The Regensburg-based biotechnology company was established in 1999 and went public in May 2006; it currently employs over 75 people. GENEART has risen to become a world leader in the production of optimized genes, combinatorial biology and the creation of DNA-based agents. Last year, the company was recognized as the STEP Award competitor with the best growth prospects thanks to its successful development, innovative products and outstanding internal process-management system.
The 2006 category winners were: InfectoPharm (Market/Customer), ProBioGen (Product/Technology), MorphoSys (Finance) and GENEART (Processes).
The entry process
To be eligible to enter, companies must have been in existence for at least one year, be actively represented in the market, generate no more than € 40 million in annual revenues and have fewer than 250 employees. The competitors are required to present their business model, expansion mission and competitive stance in their entry application. They should also describe their patent situation and implementation plan. Nominated candidates will be invited to an interview where they can present their companies in person. The final winners will be picked by a jury of independent experts from industry and academia. Entries will be accepted until August 15, 2007. The awards are scheduled to be given out in the fall of 2007.
For more information and entry forms, please contact:
F.A.Z.-Institut GmbH
Thorsten Würschinger
Mainzer Landstrasse 199
60326 Frankfurt am Main
Germany
Phone: +49 (0) 69 - 75 91 21 94
Fax: +49 (0) 69 - 75 91 23 01
t.wuerschinger@faz-institut.de
www.step-award.de
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