Marzek once again Best Family Business in Lower Austria
After receiving the award in 2002, Marzek Etiketten+Packaging was once again named ‘Best Family Business in Lower Austria 2024’ at the festive gala in the Aula der Wissenschaften on 15 May 2024. The award was presented for the 24th time by the daily newspaper ‘Die Presse’ together with its partners, Bankhaus Spängler, BDO Austria and the Austrian Chamber of Notaries.
The traditional family business Marzek Etiketten+Packaging, which was founded in 1879 and is now managed by the 4th and 5th generation, was able to convince the renowned jury of experts and was honoured as the ‘Best Family Business in Lower Austria’. The decisive factors for the assessment were concrete economic data on the one hand, but also soft facts such as the long-term stability of the company management as well as the future viability of the business and succession planning on the other.
In the economic data category, Marzek Etiketten+Packaging was able to score points with decades of positive business development. ‘In the past 22 years since we were last voted “Best Family Business in Lower Austria”, we and our team have succeeded in tripling our business volume and increasing our equity sixfold,’ reports Dr Johannes Michael Wareka, CEO and 4th Marzek generation, proudly. In addition to numerous technological innovations, the expansion into Hungary and Ukraine in 2005 and 2009 and the construction of a further plant in Hungary proved to be the right decisions. The international Marzek team was thus expanded by more than 500 additional employees and now comprises over 750 employees.
Marzek Etiketten+Packaging is also very convincing when it comes to the so-called soft facts. The Marzek/Schneller-Scharau/Wareka family of shareholders, with Helga Marzek, Alexander Schneller-Scharau and Dr Johannes Michael Wareka at the helm, is already the 3rd, 4th and 5th generation to run the company. The succession is also fully secured, as Dr Johannes Michael Wareka's children - Oliver, Marie and Stefanie Wareka - are already firmly established in various areas of the company. ‘It has always been our goal to hand over a company that is managed according to the ethical principles of our family, is optimally equipped for future challenges and is sustainably stable to the next generation. It is therefore particularly pleasing that my children are also contributing to our company with great pleasure and commitment,’ explains Dr Wareka.
At Marzek Etiketten+Packaging, the term ‘family business’ naturally includes not only the family but also the employees. This is particularly evident in the support provided to colleagues in war-torn Ukraine. The shareholder family not only endeavours to secure jobs in Ukraine in the best possible way, but also tries to alleviate the war-related burden on local employees with additional social benefits, special payments and perks. Last summer, for example, the holiday camp for 24 children of Ukrainian employees organised by the Hungarian subsidiary Marzek Kner Packaging in Békéscsaba, Hungary, was a great success. This event will be repeated this summer due to its great success last year. Another example of social commitment is the purchase of a used ambulance from the Red Cross at the end of 2023, which will be used for civilian missions in Dnipro.
With such cohesion, high innovative strength and the successful economic development of the company, it can be assumed that Marzek Etiketten+Packaging is also ideally positioned for the coming decades and will continue to make a valuable contribution to the business location as one of the key players in the Austrian economy.