For businesses wishing to enjoy long-term success in the market, it is important to continually reposition themselves to ensure their future viability. This insight ran like a common thread through the “Kreis Kleve Forum – The Experts’ Meeting for Those Interested in Business”, hosted by the Kreis Kleve Economic Development Agency at the Konzert- und Bühnenhaus Kevelaer.
One company that has strengthened its future viability in a particularly noteworthy way was honoured that evening with the 2026 University Award from the Kleve District Economic Development Agency – sponsored by the savings banks and cooperative banks in the Kleve district: Hermsen GmbH from Kleve. The company specialises in a wide range of food and takeaway packaging and supplies businesses with items including tablecloths, placemats, napkins and candles. As part of a joint project, Hermsen GmbH collaborated with Rhein-Waal University of Applied Sciences to develop a digital marketing strategy and campaign. ‘Market Development and Visibility for Businesses’ is the name of the project with which both partners succeeded in impressing the seven-member jury of the university award. Alongside Hermsen GmbH, the Faculty of Society and Economics at Rhein-Waal University of Applied Sciences was also honoured.
The patron of the event was District Administrator Christoph Gerwers, who set the tone for a festive and eventful evening for several hundred guests at the Kevelaer Concert and Theatre Hall. WDR presenter Michael Brocker hosted the event, which was supported by the Volksbanken and Sparkassen in the district of Kleve.
To get things underway, he led a panel discussion in which the following panellists exchanged views on the topic ‘Change Meets the Future’: District Administrator Christoph Gerwers, Johannes Janhsen (Member of the Board of Volksbank an der Niers eG), Brigitte Jansen (Managing Director of the Kleve District Economic Development Agency), Prof. Dr Oliver Locker-Grütjen (President of Rhine-Waal University of Applied Sciences) and Wilfried Röth (Chairman of the Board of Sparkasse Rhein-Maas).
This was followed by the ceremonial presentation of the University Award to Hermsen GmbH and the Faculty of Society and Economics at Rhine-Waal University of Applied Sciences. At its Kleve site, Hermsen employs around 30 staff, offers more than 4,000 different products and has a warehouse area of approximately 7,000 square metres. However, as a packaging supplier, Hermsen naturally faces competition. In his laudatory speech, District Administrator Christoph Gerwers explained how the collaborative project came about, enabling the company to position itself even more effectively in the market: “Managing Director Joachim Just, his wife Theresa Just-Hermsen – daughter of the company’s founder Ottmar Hermsen and an authorised signatory at the company – and Managing Director Christian van Onna recognise that visibility is of paramount importance and that innovative thinking can create a genuine competitive advantage. That is why they approached Innovation Manager Julia Roelofsen from the TransRegINT project at Rhine-Waal University of Applied Sciences and Prof. Dr Marina Gregorić, holder of the Chair in Digital Marketing. The aim of the collaboration was for students to put the modern marketing and sales approaches they had learnt into practice and, with the help of digital tools, to provide Hermsen GmbH with concrete solutions for successful business development.”
This ultimately led to the project ‘Market Development and Visibility for Businesses’, which was awarded the university prize. Fourth-semester students on the ‘International Business and Management’ degree programme carried out a benchmarking exercise and provided Hermsen with ideas for a digital marketing strategy and campaign. The project was supervised by Prof. Dr Marina Gregorić as part of various marketing management courses.
At the awards ceremony, District Administrator Gerwers conveyed the jury’s impressions: “Company founder Ottmar Hermsen is rightly proud, not only of his life’s work, but also of the fact that his daughter and son-in-law have successfully taken over the company and set it up for the future. And that they are consistently continuing along this path – now also through the successful collaboration on the project with Rhein-Waal University of Applied Sciences, which has been honoured today.”
This was followed by a first: for the first time in the history of the university award, a newly designed prize was presented. The District Administrator presented the Hermsen management team with a hand-signed print by the internationally acclaimed artist Robert Nippoldt. The illustrator, who was born in Kranenburg, captured his interpretation of Rhein-Waal University of Applied Sciences on paper using black and gold ink. The Hermsen management team promised that the artwork would be given a place of honour within the company. The prize money of 7,500 euros goes to the Faculty of Society and Economics.
