Commitment

The emco Group is closely associated with the „Kulturforum Sankt Michael” cultural and community centre. When the former church in Reuschberge, Lingen, was about to be demolished in 2002, Harald Müller founded the non-profit association “Kul- turforum Sankt Michael” together with a group of culture-loving Lingen inhabitants, in order to convert the church into a venue for music, theatre and art. Under the administration of the non-profit association, the building changed into a theatre and a concert hall, and in 2003 was given over completely and definitively to art and culture a venuw for communication and encounters.

After Müller’s death, Christian Gnaß took over the chair at the beginning of the year. “It is an honour for me to be able to carry on the association’s work and tradition,” said Gnaß. He can certainly agree with his predecessor Harald Müller, who once said, with a wink: “The culture forum is emco’s greatest business division.” In November 2016, emco Group’s commitment to the Kulturforum Sankt Michael was honoured by a high-profile jury panel with the Arts Sponsorship Award „Deutscher Kulturförderpreis“. This prize is awarded for outstanding corporate promotion of culture.

Harald Müller was a visionary and a decision maker, a man of action and a patron of culture, who oversaw the development of the emco Group for 47 years until his death. More than anyone else, he was the face of the company. He promoted social and cultural projects in the region with great loyalty to his local roots. After studying mechanical engineering, Müller joined his father’s company in 1968 and took over its management in 1977. With a pioneering spirit and outstanding management skills, he pressed ahead with the company’s expansion and opened up new product areas in the years that followed.

One milestone was the construction of international production sites with an international distribution network in the 1990s. Also, he constantly expanded the sites in his home town of Lingen, in Lower Saxony: Currently, there are more than 600 people employed in the company headquarters, the three production plants and a cutting-edge research and development centre. Müller always had the long-term success of his company and the well-being of his staff at heart. During times of economic crisis, he was able to safe- guard jobs. Early on, he introduced comprehensive fringe benefits to reduce the burden on large families. In cases of personal social hardship, he demonstrated an unbureaucratic willingness to help. Müller also loved and promoted the arts. His name is closely associ- ated with the Kulturforum Sankt Michael cultural and community centre, which he founded in 2003, together with a number of other culture lovers. In doing so, Müller saved a church from being demol- ished and he created a cultural centre with superregional appeal as well – a stage for young artists. Müller won great respect and recognition for his social and cultural commitment – from beyond the region’s borders, too.