This was announced during an inspiring, festive evening in the Inspyrium in Cuijk. The new set-up is a bull's eye. More young entrepreneurs than ever attended the event, which started with a knowledge festival and ended in a festive mood.
Marloes Kepser has won the 25th Entrepreneur Award Land van Cuijk & Noord-Limburg. Kepser's entrepreneur from Cuijk is also a public favourite. The silver prize goes to Arno van Lankveld of AVL Motion Group in Westerbeek and Wout Seuren of KWS Seuren in Beugen.
Marloes Kepser
“Marloes Kepser shows a personal approach and social skills that - in combination with her leadership competencies - make her accessible and powerful in a special way. She dares to dream and think outside the box. She does all of this without losing sight of her people, the organization and doing things together", is the jury's verdict on the 36-year-old winner, who - after the sudden death of her father - has been in charge since 2017 of the Kepser family business in Cuijk, founded in 1958.
Wout Seuren
There are also words of praise for the silver prize winners. “Wout Seuren has translated the investigative attitude of a technician into that of an entrepreneur. He is an example of a strong self-taught entrepreneur with a social character,” said the jury about the 25-year-old entrepreneur behind KWS Seuren in Beugen; the specialist when it comes to overhauling and repairing bicycle batteries. It started in 2017 with tinkering in the shed, but now the company has fifty employees and processes three hundred batteries a week.
Arno van Lankveld
In the jury report about Arno van Lankveld of AVL Motion Groep we read the following. “Arno van Lankveld is technically well versed, but has also developed well as an entrepreneur. He shows guts and persuasiveness towards the team, financiers and users when developing machines.” The 32-year-old entrepreneur from Westerbeek has developed a harvesting machine with which he can harvest white asparagus autonomously and selectively. According to him, this lays the new foundation for future farmers; asparagus pickers have become superfluous as a result.
Remarkable Entrepreneur
As an exception this year, three entrepreneurs have been named Remarkable Entrepreneur of the Year. Nominees Karel Jennissen (N+P Group), Wiljan Laarakkers (Laarakkers) and René van der Vleuten (Globemilk) all took home an award. These three entrepreneurs stood out when the selection committee of the Ondernemersprijs examined all – more than ninety – former winners, nominees and starters from the past 24 years.
Making a choice between these three is, according to the jury, 'impossible'. After winning the Entrepreneur Award - in 2007, 2011 and 2017 respectively, these entrepreneurs have developed further. Karel Jennissen stands out for his innovativeness, long-term vision and perseverance. Wiljan Laarakkers is strong in risk management, digitizing the organization and future-oriented partnerships, not only for his company, but also for the community. René van der Vleuten is called a 'smart farmer'; he is a quick decision maker and courageous, but not overconfident.
Pride
For example, a total of six entrepreneurs were in the spotlight of which we can be 'extremely proud' in the Land van Cuijk & North Limburg, according to Ondernemersprijs chairman Martin van Collenburg. Something the winners all agree on. Marloes Kepser: “With all these entrepreneurs – also here in the room – we can put the Land van Cuijk and North Limburg on the map. Everyone in the Netherlands and beyond should know what we do here.”
