Every year the Swedish Business Awards nominates the most successful companies in the Baltic States in terms of sustainable growth, CSR and entrepreneurship. We are happy to announce that Greencarrier Freight Service Estonia won the Sustainable Growth Award this year! I was there to receive the award on behalf of Greencarrier.
An annual meeting point to discuss practices, achievements and future challenges
The Swedish Business Awards provides positive examples for international establishments and business development by highlighting the success of cooperation, emphasising innovativeness, outstanding business achievements and the importance of contributions to society. This initiative promotes internationalisation of business and serves as a yearly meeting point to discuss achievements, practices and aims.
The award ceremony of the enterprise competition Swedish Business Award 2014
Estonian Prime Minister Taavi Rõivas opened the event at the headquarters of the Art Museum of Estonia in Tallin, and Victoria, the Crown Princess of Sweden handed out the awards. I was very nervous about meeting the Swedish Crown Princess, but she was very nice and I felt truly supported by her when holding my speech.
The event was hosted by Business Sweden, the Swedish Embassy in Estonia, the Swedish Institute and Saab AB and included a conference which featured Karin Nilsdotter, Future Astronaut and CEO of Spaceport Sweden, as keynote speaker.
Positive turnover growth and contributions to environmental and social sustainability
This year the Awards ceremony in Estonia honoured the most successful companies in the following nominations: Sustainable Growth Award, Corporate Social Responsibility Initiative of the Year Award and Young Entrepreneur of the Year. When it came to the Sustainable Growth Award the jury was looking for harmonious development of the company: turnover growth with positive results during the last five years and contributions to environmental and social sustainability.
The nomination said: The winner of the Sustainable Growth Award is a company that has demonstrated excellent financial results together with an exceptional consideration for the environment while operating in a competitive and profit driven sector.
You can watch a video from the event on the Estonian News Channel EER.
The development of society, human resources and the environment
We are very happy to have won this award and it truly means a lot to us. It shows that we have grown financially every year, that the annual percentage of increase in sales is consistent with our defined financial policy. However, economic growth isn’t only what the award is about. Sustainable Growth Award also includes the development of society, human resources and the environment. This is where the Greencarrier Spirit comes in.
Taking responsibility for the world we live in and the environment
I believe that one of the reasons to why we won the award is that we take great responsibility for the world we live in. In many companies these voluntary actions are called Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). In Greencarrier we call it the Greencarrier Spirit. The Greencarrier Spirit is not just a matter of making charitable donations. It is also about running our business in a way that maximises benefits for everyone involved, and minimises the negative environmental impacts from our business’s activities.
Greencarrier’s environmental sustainability performance
The environment is crucial for our living, business and entrepreneurship. We offer customised logistics solutions worldwide with a special focus to engage and take care of the environment. Considering transporters significant environmental impact, we strive to reduce the use of resources and prevent pollution of the air, water and soil and thereby constantly improving our environmental performance.
The true winners of the Sustainable Growth Award are the Greencarrier employees
The Sustainable Growth Award does not only involve us being better recognised on the market, but also but also gives us an opportunity to set out new, even higher goals, to aim for in the future. I believe one of the most important things for a successful company is to keep the employees motivated and encourage them to work together as a team towards set targets. Being competitive is important in order to always strive further on.
Therefore, the true winners of the Sustainable Growth Award really are the employees. They are the ones who have put their minds and hearts to it. Without their passion and motivation we would never have won. The award is a result of the great work that was done at a local level with our Greencarrier Spirit as a basis.
Photo by: André Altjõe
