Companies in the river – the Rhine connects • THE ECONOMY OF COLOGNE

More than 600 entrepreneurs and business representatives came together in Cologne on board the MS RheinEnergie. On the journey downstream to Düsseldorf, they were able to find out about pressing issues and discuss them during a three-hour informative program. The event “Companies in the River – the Rhine Connects” was initiated and carried out by Digitale Stadt Düsseldorf in cooperation with the Unternehmerschaft Düsseldorf and the surrounding area. V., the association DIE FAMILIENUNTERNEHMER e. V., RheinEnergie AG, the Rhein-Kreis Neuss and the hydrogen hub RKN/Rheinland e. v.

Three top-class panel discussions were all about transformation and dealt with the topics “The changing world – how does Germany manage to remain independent and competitive?”, “How much AI can we tolerate? Impact on society and the economy” and “Internal security and shortage of skilled workers”.

Jutta Zülow, CEO of Zülow AG, and Stephan Schneider, CEO of Digitale Stadt Düsseldorf, welcomed the guests, and Jutta Zülow began by emphatically pointing out the current difficult times: “There needs to be a framework for us entrepreneurs that enables us to be here North Rhine-Westphalia.” In his subsequent keynote speech, Andreas Feicht, CEO of RheinEnergie AG, took a concerned look at the energy markets and declared: “We are better positioned than last year, but the energy crisis is not over yet.” The solution suggested Among other things, he suggests not relying on electricity for everything and being open to new technologies. After a speech by Herbert Reul, Interior Minister of North Rhine-Westphalia, the journey on the Rhine began. The three exciting panel talks started at the same time.

Three exciting panel talks on the Rhine

Under the title “Internal security and shortage of skilled workers” Frank Richter, Essen police chief a. D., David Zülow, NRW state chairman of DIE FAMILIENUNTERNEHMER and managing partner of Zülow AG, and Dirk Brügge, district director of the Rhine district of Neuss. The conclusion of the discussion was the realization that internal security for employees, but also for family businesses, is an important location factor.

Afterwards, Ina Scharrenbach, Minister for Homeland, Municipal Affairs, Construction and Digitalization of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, and Dr. Andreas Pinkwart, Professor of Innovation and Technology Management at TU Dresden. During the discussion, more openness to technology, e.g. B. when it comes to hydrogen, required. It was also pointed out that Germany has more energy than is being used.

In the third panel discussion, Claudia Hessel, chief presenter at RTL West, and Jörg Bienert, CEO of the KI Federal Association, discussed AI and how it affects society and the economy. It was agreed that Germany was still lagging behind and was in danger of losing touch.

Olaf Ziegs, deputy regional chairman and past president of the interest group DIE FAMILIENENTREHMER in the Cologne-Bonn metropolitan region, was pleased with the event: “Organizing such a large networking event with such top-class speakers and an audience of entrepreneurs always represents a very special challenge. It’s great that we can do this with our partners through DIE FAMILIENUNTERNEHMER.” And he adds: “The topics discussed are directly in tune with the times and are relevant for all entrepreneurs. The panel discussions and the subsequent networking provided extremely interesting conversations in which some people were sure to broaden their horizons and gain ideas for the future.”

After the informative and interesting panel discussions, the participants had plenty of time to network.

(Monika Eiden)

This article appeared in the issue DIE WIRTSCHAFT 07.2023