A major award for Heinz Gries: on 9 June 2015 the fully authorised representative of Griesson - de Beukelaer (GdB) received the Enterprise Medal (Wirtschaftsmedaille) of the state of Rhineland-Palatinate. Gries, who celebrated his 80th birthday in May, was presented with the award by Minister of Economic Affairs Eveline Lemke at a ceremony held at the ministry.
The medal honours people who have rendered outstanding services to the economic development of the state of Rhineland-Palatinate. “I am very proud of the fact that an entrepreneurial personality such as Heinz Gries lives in Rhineland-Palatinate”, said the minister. “Our country needs people like him who contribute to the shaping of our society, economy and state, and get energetically involved. As the owner of a family company, Heinz Gries always has his eye on both the profitability of the business and the well-being of the employees.” The minister especially emphasised the fact that Heinz Gries has always successfully adapted to economic or political changes, and that even at the age of 80 he is still open and interested in innovations and developments, such as those that Industry 4.0 holds in store for companies
The success of the family company GdB, which generated sales of around EUR 545m. in 2013 and employs 2,360 people in total at its sites in in Polch (Rhineland-Palatinate), Kempen (North Rhine-Westphalia), Kahla (Thuringia), Ravensburg (Baden-Württemberg) and Wurzen (Saxony), is inseparably connected with Heinz Gries: under his guidance the company succeeded in making popular brands such as Prinzen Rolle, Griesson Soft Cake or TUC crackers known in almost every German household. The exemplary entrepreneur has received various top-class honours for his services: in 2004 he was awarded the Federal Cross of Merit on the ribbon of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany. In 2009 the industry honoured him with the Golden Sugarloaf, the most important award in the German food industry, for his life’s work. The magazine Impulse and the INTES Academy voted him one of the Family Entrepreneurs of the Year in 2011.
One of the milestones in the entrepreneurial life of Heinz Gries and the history of GdB was his decision in 2014 to transfer his shareholding in GdB to the Gottlieb Anton-Stiftung, a foundation he had established. In this way during his lifetime he is securing the succession for the shareholding in the company, and is ensuring long-term stability and reliability in his responsibility for the employees too. By means of the family foundation the close connection between the company and the family has been strengthened once again across the succession of generations, and the independence of Griesson - de Beukelaer is ensured. Heinz Gries is chairman of the Foundation Board, the most important management body of the foundation. In this function, even at the age of 80 he is still closely connected with the company Griesson - de Beukelaer, which is managed by Andreas Land as Chairman of the Executive Board.