We completed the triple!
For three years in a row, BLOCK trainees have been among the best in the state. This is a special achievement that no other company in the area of the Stade Chamber of Industry and Commerce responsible for the Elbe-Weser region has achieved in the last three years.
Once again, the highest representatives of the Stade Chamber of Industry and Commerce congratulate BLOCK on its outstanding performance as a training company. President Matthias Kohlmann, Chief Executive Holger Bartsch and his deputy Siegfried Deutsch traveled to Verden to congratulate us. On the one hand, they wanted to honor Wolfgang Reichelt as the owner and CEO of BLOCK, but on the other hand, they also wanted to honor Rieke Küddelsmann, who completed her three-year apprenticeship as a Technical Product Designer specializing in product design and construction at BLOCK in 2021, first as a chamber winner and then as the best in Germany. None was as good as the 21-year-old from the Heidekreis region, who scored 97 out of a possible 100 points - a "very good" in theory and practice.
In times of low incidences, the official honoring of the state's best was celebrated on a grand scale in the ballroom of the Alando Palais in Osnabrück. Around 30,000 young people had taken part in the nationally standardized final examinations of the Chambers of Industry and Commerce in Lower Saxony in 2021. Of these, a total of 109 trainees from companies in Lower Saxony passed their final exams with the best results in their respective training occupations - one of them being Rieke Küddelsmann. "Anyone who comes out on top here has really done a great job. Your success is a testament to the fact that you have been performance-oriented and committed during your training," emphasized Uwe Goebel, President of the Lower Saxony Chamber of Industry and Commerce, in his address.
This thesis is confirmed by the responsible trainer Heiner Koopmann about his protégé Rieke Küddelsmann, who has always attracted positive attention during her training due to her personal commitment, her structured way of working and her thirst for knowledge. "We talked briefly about a new project, and she was already whipping out her pen and drawing everything. She can draw very well by hand and is very creative - an important quality for our product designers. If something was unclear to her or she still needed support, she took care of it - asked, read up, any source was fine with her. With such bright and committed trainees, my job as a trainer is simply twice as much fun!" says Mr. Koopmann, commenting on the award.
The year before, Jessica Grollmisch had already been honored by the Stade Chamber of Industry and Commerce and the Lower Saxony Chamber of Industry and Commerce as the best in the state for her outstanding examination performance as a Technical Product Designer specializing in product design and construction. The Rotenburg native also completed her training at BLOCK, which was shortened to three years, and graduated with a "very good". Due to the special social situation, the honor had to take place in a much smaller setting. Nevertheless, the respect and recognition for this extraordinary achievement undoubtedly remain just as great.
In 2019, this achievement was achieved by Lena Spehling from Verden. She also completed her training as a Technical Product Designer specializing in product design and construction, and she too shortened her training period to three years. For her outstanding final performance, she was honored by the Stade Chamber of Industry and Commerce as one of the year's best in the commercial and industrial-technical professions for the Elbe-Weser region and by the Lower Saxony Chamber of Industry and Commerce as one of 107 best in the state. Lena Spehling was only too happy to accept the invitation to the state's best honors ceremony at the Weser-Ems Hall in Oldenburg. "To be among the best graduates in all of Lower Saxony is already a great feeling," said the young award winner. "I simply enjoy my job and was able to go through a great training at BLOCK. To ultimately be awarded for this is of course a great honor for me."
Of course, BLOCK CEO Wolfgang Reichelt, who is also an honorary member of the General Assembly and Innovation Ambassador of the Stade Chamber of Industry and Commerce, also congratulated on these excellent achievements: "The dual training system is the optimum combination of theory and practice. We always have 60 young people in training and dual studies in our company. And we mentor our junior staff, because they are our future potential," says the company boss.
Tobias Kirschke, Head of Human Resources at BLOCK, and trainer Heiner Koopmann, whose excellent training has now produced these outstanding graduates three years in a row, are also particularly proud.
We offer young people excellent opportunities for technical training and personal development. Our training concept is based not only on the classic pillar of training in the vocational school network, but also on qualification through dual courses of study in the practical network leading to bachelor's and master's degrees. We offer twelve apprenticeships in the technical, commercial and creative fields and five dual courses of study. In addition, BLOCK accompanies doctoral candidates towards their doctorate, facilitates internships of all kinds, supports student research projects and term papers, and supervises final theses. Thanks to these extensive opportunities, there are many chances for personal advancement.