Bureau Schmidt, which specialises in project management, engineering, and infrastructure was chosen as the winner of this year’s De HET entrepreneurship prize in Leeuwarden.
By Thomas Ansell
Each year, the city of Leeuwarden, in co-operation with some partners, organises and awards its ondernemersprijs, called ‘De HET’, for entrepreneurial endeavours in a 15km radius of the Oldehove tower. Bureau Schmidt was one of three finalists that were selected by a committee and public vote. Bureau Schmidt director Roald Schmidt accepted the oddly-shaped trophy at the Business Contact Day on the 20th of March, held at the Kanselerij in Leeuwarden.
The winners are judged on four areas, according to YourPost (who followed the three finalists in detail), including corporate social responsibility, marketing and sales, finances and operations; and innovation. This year’s finalists were Bureau Schmidt, YFK Marketing and Cin-ergy, Over the course of a few weeks, the finalists presented themselves to the Commerciële Club Leeuwarden and the jury payed each finalist a visit to inform their eventual decision.
The competition has been won in recent years by established companies in the city, such as Van der Velde book shop, dairy producer de Zuivelhoeve, and construction and metal-working company Mannen van Staal. The jury consists of seven Leeuwarders with connections to the business world, such as chairperson Gert-Jan Winkeler, who is the CEO of a bank focused on SMEs. A Facebook poll is also taken into account when selecting the winner. Prior to the year 2012, the prize was known as the Leeuwarden Ondernemers Prijs (LOP).
