“It was an incredibly exciting journey and an honor to be able to work on the economic development of the Rohrbach district,” says Klaus Grad on the occasion of his upcoming retirement. After almost 25 years, the head of the Rohrbach Chamber of Commerce is retiring and handing over to Michael Schaubmeier in April.
“I am pleased that Michael Schaubmeier from Rohrbach-Berg, a young and motivated lawyer, will be committed to the companies in the district,” Klaus Grad wishes his successor every success in his future work. Schaubmeier had already been the head of the Steyr district office for two and a half years and thus brings valuable experience with him.
“It was an eventful time in which Klaus Grad and his team were able to achieve a lot for the companies in the Rohrbach district,” says WK chairman Andreas Höllinger, thanking him for the work he has done. “We were able to realize important projects for the region together,” says Höllinger. The fact that the manager and chairman are a good team is essential for the work: “This was already the case with the WK chairmen Fritz Ransmayr, Josef Jauker and Herbert Mairhofer,” Grad recalls of the many challenges that were most of the time. The turn of the millennium or the introduction of the euro in 2002 seemed comparatively harmless. Other calibers were the financial crisis of 2008, the refugee crisis of 2015 or the corona pandemic followed by the war in Ukraine and the current inflation. “The companies in the district in particular have proven their resilience many times over and have emerged stronger from the various crises,” says Grad, pleased to have helped the entrepreneurs.
Positive development
The development of the economy in the last two decades is impressive. The number of Rohrbach companies has practically doubled to 3,600, the number of employees in the commercial economy increased by 50 percent to 13,780 people, and the municipal tax revenue and thus the financial resources for the municipalities in the district rose from 5.4 to over 14 million euros. Every year, the WKO Rohrbach supports around 200 young companies in becoming self-employed. Although the number of people commuting out of the district has been reduced by around 1000 people in recent years, the shortage of skilled workers will remain the core issue for the Rohrbach economy in the future.
Many traditional family businesses, many innovative small and medium-sized businesses and, above all, the ever-increasing number of internationally successful leading companies have contributed to the positive image of the region. With the Jobweek, which takes place from March 20th to 25th, schoolchildren, apprentices and returnees can look behind the scenes of the regional companies and obtain information about various professions and jobs directly from the participating companies (www.jobweek.at).
Source: Nachrichten
