Best Companies of 2017 Announced
The Company of the Year was chosen from among the best of the EAS’s competition Entrepreneurship Award and the Chamber of Commerce’s Competitiveness Ranking. This year’s race for the Company of the Year title was between Incap Electronics Estonia OÜ, Magnetic MRO AS, Rimi Eesti Food AS, Testlio OÜ, Toftan AS, Tallink Grupp AS and Hekotek AS.
Alo Ivask, Chairman of the Board of EAS said that the capable companies in Estonia play an important role in the success of the state’s economy and welfare of the society. “Therefore we think it is very important that they are recognised by the state with an entrepreneurship award, which also is an expression of respect towards all entrepreneurs,” emphasised Ivask. ”The Company of the year Magnetic MRO AS is a successful exporter who has brought its services to 37 countries,“ he added.
“When we give the entrepreneurship awards, we recognise and set as an example the best, but on the other hand we express our respect to all entrepreneurs and entrepreneurial people, despite of their area of activity or scope,” said president of the Estonian Chamber of Commerce and Industry Toomas Luman. “With recognizing them we would like to highlight the contribution of entrepreneurs in the society so that being an entrepreneur could be noticed and valued more. We would like to continue with that in the future,” said Luman.
“Estonian economic development, the driving force of which are the entrepreneurs, is facing many challenges such as decreasing population and suffocating of entrepreneurship with increasing regulations. This is why it is important to hold such events for recognising entrepreneurs who despite of difficult conditions continue to contribute to improving the welfare of Estonia and fulfil the state treasury with taxes. The Estonian Employers’ Confederation would like to thank all entrepreneurs who have participated in this award competition and of course congratulates the winners,” said Chairman of the Council of the Estonian Employers’ Confederation Tiit Kuuli.
Winners of the EAS Entrepreneurship Award 2017:
- Innovator of the Year – Testlio OÜ
- Regional Company of the Year – Incap Electronics Estonia OÜ
- Exporter of the Year – Magnetic MRO AS
- Responsible Company of the Year – Rimi Eesti Food AS
- Foreign Investor of the Year – Toftan AS
Winners of the Estonian Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s Companies’ Competitiveness Ranking 2017:
- The Most Competitive Micro, Small and Medium-Sized Company – Hekotek AS
- The Most Competitive Large-Scale Company – Tallink Grupp AS
The most competitive companies 2017 by areas of activity:
- Nortal AS – Communications and IT
- Stora Enso Eesti AS – Industry and energy
- Le Coq AS – Food industry
- Swedbank AS – Financial brokerage
- Silberauto AS - Wholesale
- Tallink Grupp AS - Tourism
- Tallinna Kaubamaja Grupp AS - Retail
- Merko Ehitus AS - Construction
- E.L.L. Kinnisvara AS - Service
The Company of the Year was selected by an honourable jury, which consisted of the Minister of Entrepreneurship and Information Technology Urve Palo, Chairman of the Board of EAS Alo Ivask, Member of the Board of the Innovator of the Year 2016 Estonian Cell AS Siiri Lahe, President of the Bank of Estonia Ardo Hansson, Rector of the University of Tartu Volli Kalm, Chairman of the Board of Cybernetica AS Oliver Väärtnõu and Entrepreneur of the Year 2012, director of Chemi-Pharm AS Ruth Oltjer.
The gala event for recognising the best Estonian companies is organised by Enterprise Estonia, Estonian Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Estonian Employers’ Confederation.
Young Entrepreneur of the Year Is Founder of Testlio Kristel Kruustük
The winner of the Young Entrepreneur of the Year award was given out during the award ceremony for the best companies of the year. The 5000-euro Young Entrepreneur award and the related title was given to Kristel Kruustük, founder and CEO of Testlio – a company dedicated to software testing. The award was given to the laureate by President Kersti Kaljulaid.
Kristel Kruustük is a 28-year-old entrepreneur who catches opportunities from the air, saw the problems in software testing and decided to have a different approach on the matter. Kristel’s path to being an entrepreneur started from passion and thanks to that Kristel has become a charismatic leader. In only a few years, Kristel has brought Testlio to the world map. The company has offices in Estonia and San Francisco, but the testers are located in 40 countries. In addition to her duties, Kristel finds time to support and encourage young people on the path that they have selected for their life, participate in different youth-focused programmes such as Superheroes, LEAP, Hüppelaud and Digigirls.
In addition to Kistel, the top three of the Young Entrepreneur of the Year award included twins Ivar and Janar Merilo who owner Thorgate Management OÜ, and Mihkel Tammo, CEO of Estanc AS.
The 5,000-euro award is meant for an owner or manager of a company who is younger than 30, whose activities have been outstanding and innovative. The competition is organized by the Estonian Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Swedbank AS, the initiative is supported by President Kersti Kaljulaid.