Ten companies received awards last week in Cluj-Napoca, at the “Business Champions”, Transylvania edition event, organized in the past five years by Ziarul Financiar together with the Enterprise Investors Fund, BCR – the largest local bank, the tax audit and consultancy company PwC and the Triple Helix foundation.

Entrepreneurs from the counties of Cluj, Timiș, Brașov, Bihor, Alba and Mureș received awards for their business performances, for the largest and most spectacular increase in turnover and employees number, as well as for those who managed to shine in a time when many companies have gone bankrupt.

The processing industry, car manufacture and retail, regardless if it’s about electronics or footwear, dominated the top of the most dynamic entrepreneurial businesses in Transylvania, a region that has shown an increased interest for business and innovation.

In the 2015 edition of the “Business Champions”, prizes were awarded for three categories: large companies (with a turnover of over 15 million euros last year), small companies (with turnovers between 3 and 15 million eu­ros in 2014) and a special category, for “continuity”, awarder to the companies that were recognized as business champions in previous editions of this event and have continued to have significant performances.

In addition, two special prizes were awarded to companies that have shown a spectacular evolution or that have managed to gain prominence on the market. All this must be seen in a context in which multinational companies dominate important markets in Romania.

In the large companies category of “Business Champions” in Transylvania, companie from various industries received awards: the furniture manufacturer Rus-Savi­tar from Timiș, footwear retailer Benvenuti from Bihor  and Visual Fan from Brașov, whose portfolio includes the Romanian brand of telephones and tablets Allview.

In the small companies category, this year’s champions were: Rapid Diagnostic Clinic from Brașov,  Agasi company from Timiș (plumbing works) and Agrosel from Cluj, a vegetable and flower seed retailer.

The manufacturer of machine tools Emsil Techtrans from Bihor county and the manufacturer of tractors, farming and forestry equipment Irum from Mureș received awards for business continuity. These two companies have stood the test of time and the “storm” caused by the world economic crisis and have achieved businesses of 10 million euros each.

“We need models in the business world, as well as real models, for whom the results speak out first, then the entrepreneurs start talking”, says Irina Anghel-Enescu, founder and chairwoman of the Triple Helix Foundation.

Alba­lact from Alba county, company that became last year the leader of the dairy market in Romania, and Salad Box from Cluj, which in three years became the leader of the healthy food restaurants segment and also the largest chain of restaurants in Romania, with around 40 units, received special prizes for their vision.

“In the dairy products category, only high-profile players are in the top eight largest companies, companies we used to look up to 15 years ago, but which we managed to exceed last year. I am always glad when there are Romanian companies capable of this performance”, says Raul Ciurtin, president of Albalact Group, with business turnovers of over 100 million euros.

“Business Champions” brought together for the fifth year in a row the most important entrepreneurs in the region, thus managing to be one step closer to solving one of the greatest flaws of the local entrepreneurial environment, namely the low networking level of the Romanian businessmen.

At the same time, this month the business champions from the region of Moldova received awards. In the upcoming period the most dynamic companies from Mun­tenia will receive their awards in Bucharest.

The selection of business champions took into account several criteria that had to be met, besides the turnover: gross profit in 2014, a minimum of 10 employees throughout last year, and no involvement in activities related to tobacco, alcohol, gambling, betting or other industry with potential ethical impact.

In addition, for each eligible company, the score was calculated based on four quantity criteria, which rewarded financial performance and consistency in achieving it: evolution of turnover and EBITDA index, operational margin and number of employees. A series of quality criteria were also taken into account, namely the added value in the economy and society, export activities and innovation in terms of business model, products and services.

Article published in the printed issue of Ziarul Financiar from 2^nd November 2015.

Article source: https://www.zf.ro/suplimente/cine-sunt-campionii-in-business-ai-transilvaniei-in-2015-14870247