SVSM Awards 2022 awarded
As part of the "SVSM Dialogue on Economic Development", the Swiss Association for Location Management SVSM presented the SVSM Awards in Olten and honoured the location manager of the year.
The Swiss Association for Location Management SVSM has been presenting the SVSM Awards since 2007. These are awards for particularly innovative projects in the fields of location marketing, location development and economic promotion. For the 2022 awards, 14 applications were received – from municipalities, cities and organisations from Lake Constance to the Upper Valais. A jury evaluated them on the basis of defined criteria and nominated six projects for the 2022 Awards. The nominees then had the opportunity to present their project to the jury. The presentation of the coveted awards finally took place at the beginning of November at the Capitol in Olten as part of the “SVSM Dialogue on Economic Promotion” conference. The SVSM Award 2022 went to the Upper Valais Regional and Economic Centre for the “valais4you” project, which aims to promote the immigration of skilled workers. According to Katharina Hopp, jury president of the SVSM Awards and SVSM board member, the regional cooperation and exemplary collaboration between the private and public sectors were the deciding factors in the jury’s decision: “The various contact points and services cooperate across sectors and thus cover the various needs of newcomers. In addition, the jury found the agile organisational form, which can react flexibly to requirements, to be particularly innovative,” said Hopp in her laudation.
The jury president was also able to award a second prize on the stage of the Capitol: a special SVSM recognition prize. This went to the Stadtufer cooperative, which is promoting the conversion of the old spinning mill in Lichtensteig, Toggenburg. According to Katharina Hopp, the young, fresh organisation has defied a difficult environment and adverse circumstances: “The jury would like to appreciate the commitment of the cooperative, which has given the project charisma at local and regional level and created an example of innovative location promotion in rural areas, with the recognition award.” The jury president also paid tribute to all the other nominees who received a nomination certificate.
As part of the SVSM Awards, the SVSM also honours a deserving personality as location manager of the year. in 2022, Christoph Lang, CEO of the Zurich Airport Region FRZ, received the award from Sonja Wollkopf Walt, CEO Greater Zurich Area and jury member of the SVSM Awards. In her laudation, Wollkopf Walt noted that Christoph Lang was not only an undisputedly deserving location manager, but had also played a significant role in shaping the SVSM, as he had been a member of the board since the association was founded in 1998 until 2008.