200 apprentices and many other employees are to be trained in the new “Pankl Academy” on the company’s premises in Kapfenberg. On Friday, owner Stefan Pierer and CEO Wolfgang Plasser celebrated the groundbreaking ceremony for the 15 million euro project together with colleagues and politicians.
The first construction work on the Pankl site in Kapfenberg has already begun, but there was still great joy at the symbolic groundbreaking ceremony. The company is building its “Pankl Academy” – a training campus with over 4000 square meters, in which 200 apprentices and many other employees from the entire group will be trained and further educated. “Pankl has many successful years as a company behind it,” sounded the CEO Wolfgang Plasser at the presentation of the project on Friday. “The most important factor for this success is our well-trained employees. 1,700 people are currently working for us, which is 170 more than a year ago.” In the future, however, there will be many more. “We want to expand the apprenticeship training even further. We are currently reaching our capacities.” Anyone starting an apprenticeship on September 1, 2024 should already experience it in the academy. Yoga on the roof garden What will the campus look like in concrete terms? The rendering by the architectural office Hofbauer Liebmann shows a building with a reflective facade that seems to disappear in the landscape. The centerpiece will be a 1500 square meter training workshop, plus offices, lounges, a canteen and “flexible room concepts” for workshops and large seminars. A roof garden serves as a retreat, and there will also be space for yoga, workouts and occupational medicine. Heating is with a heat pump, photovoltaics provide energy. Investments in the home For Pankl owner Stefan Pierer, the academy is a further commitment to the region in the Mürztal. “I grew up here, I studied here, I experienced the crisis in the industry. Today I am convinced that we are an essential cluster for metallurgy.” Pankl is the “heart” of its supplier industry. Pierer was full of praise for the dual training system in Austria (“That is certainly also the reason for the high proportion of industry”) and the city of Kapfenberg: “You know where the prosperity comes from,” he said in the direction of Mayor Fritz scratches (SPÖ ). The state of Styria also promotes education and innovation, and Pierer complained about a lack of commitment from the federal government and the EU. “For apprentices, a company has to be ‘cool’, which is why Pankl is right at the top,” said Mayor scratches. ÖVP Economic Minister Barbara Eibinger-Miedl praised the “future investment for the entire region. With this, Pankl relies on the greatest asset we have – the employees and, above all, the apprentices. They get the appreciation they deserve.” Agricultural Councilor Hans Seitinger (ÖVP), who himself comes from the region, emphasized how much Pierer had shaped the Mürztal. “He is a big patron and also invests in tourism and housing. Pierer lives in connection with his homeland.”
