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September 11, 2009 - The Hamburg Entrepreneurial Prize 2009

Hamburg, September 2009. The winners of the Hamburg Entrepreneurial Prize for 2009 have been announced. They were chosen by Haspa, the Hamburger Abendblatt newspaper, the Hamburg1 television station, the Hamburg Chamber of Commerce, the Hamburg Chamber of Skilled Crafts and Small Businesses and Studio Hamburg. The awards were presented yesterday at a gala evening held at the Fischauktionshalle.

In the new business category, the jury singled out SnapDragon Games (www.snapdragongames.com), a gaming development studio established in Hamburg in 2005. Founded by Christian von Duisburg, this start-up company is expanding rapidly, with a 40-strong team producing PC, browser and console-based games. In April, having collaborated with legendary entertainer Otto Waalkes, the company celebrated its debut on Wiiware, the download portal for the popular Nintendo Wii games console – one of the first German studios to do so.
 
The award in the thriving business category went to Becker Marine Systems (www.becker-marine-systems.com), a local manufacturer of ship rudder systems run by managing partner Dirk Lehmann. Since joining the company seven years ago, Mr. Lehmann has been responsible for introducing a high number of groundbreaking innovations to the product range, and has successfully internationalised the business. Annual turnover has risen from €12 million to €100 million, with the workforce expanding from 25 to 90 employees. In 2010, the company will relocate to new headquarters on the Harburg inland port that can accommodate up to 200 staff members.

The lifetime achievement prize was awarded to Claus and Gunnar Heinemann, fourth-generation personally liable partners at the family-run company Gebr. Heinemann KG (www.gebr-heinemann.de). Over the past 30 years, the cousins have overseen the expansion of their business into airports, ships and national border regions, both at home and abroad. The number of employees of this trading firm, distributor and logistical service provider to the international travel sector also increased tenfold in that time to stand at five thousand. Amongst other activities, the head office in Hafen City and the new logistical centre in Hamburg’s Allermöhe district supply the company’s international chain of Travel Value shops as well as the new retail brand Heinemann Duty Free, which was launched in 2008.

Background

The Hamburg Entrepreneurial Prize is designed to reward entrepreneurial initiative, determination and achievement. Speakers at this year’s event included Hamburg President of the Senate Ole von Beust, editor-in-chief at the newspaper Abendblatt Claus Strunz and Dr. Harald Vogelsang, management board spokesman at Haspa.

Hamburger Sparkasse AG, or Haspa, is Hamburg's leading retail bank for retail, individual and midsize corporate customers in the Hamburg metropolitan area. Haspa is also Germany's largest Sparkasse (savings bank), with a balance sheet total of € 36 billion and some 5,450 employees. Haspa offers a wide range of financial services for retail and commercial customers in the Hamburg business region and its more than three million inhabitants. For more than 50 percent of Hamburg's residents, Haspa is their main bank.

(from left to right): Claus Heinemann, Hamburg President of the Senate Ole von Beust, Gunnar Heinemann