Each year, the Einari Vidgrén Foun­da­tion rewards forest industry pro­fes­sio­nals. This year, the Einari Award, the Einari Vidgrén Foundation’s key recog­ni­tion, was given to Heikki Ahola from H.A. Forest Oy, and Arvo and Markku Man­ni­nen from Koneu­ra­kointi Vel­jek­set Man­ni­nen Ky.

“Thousands of pro­fes­sio­nals with first-rate exper­tise work in our forests. The stan­dard set for forest mana­ge­ment and har­ves­ting is being rai­sed all the time – we all bear res­pon­si­bi­lity for res­pon­sible and sus­tai­nable forest mana­ge­ment. In our selec­tions, we wan­ted to emp­ha­sise pro­fes­sio­nal and compre­hen­sive acti­vi­ties. Our recog­ni­tions were also given to pro­fes­sio­nals who, through their acti­vi­ties, have spread a posi­tive mes­sage about the forest sec­tor,” says Juha Vidgren, Chair of the Einari Vidgrén Foun­da­tion.

EINARI AWARD

The Einari Award, the Einari Vidgrén Foundation’s key recog­ni­tion, was given to Heikki Ahola from H.A. Forest Oy, and Arvo and Markku Man­ni­nen from Koneu­ra­kointi Vel­jek­set Man­ni­nen Ky.

This year’s cri­te­ria emp­ha­si­sed pro­fes­sio­nal and compre­hen­sive acti­vi­ties and main­tai­ning a high level of qua­lity. Heikki Ahola’s com­pany, H.A. Forest Oy, has grown from a busi­ness ope­ra­ting a single forwar­der into a regio­nal com­pany that has exten­sive res­pon­si­bi­li­ties and employs almost 50 people with its part­ner com­pa­nies.

The company’s gui­ding values are social, eco­lo­gical and financial sus­tai­na­bi­lity, as well as the pro­duc­tion of added value for cus­to­mers.

H.A. Forest Oy has wor­ked with Stora Enso and Kimmo Kulo­järvi Oy to deve­lop ope­ra­tor trai­ning. In addi­tion, Heikki Ahola has par­tici­pa­ted in public dia­lo­gue in media ser­vices, pre­sen­ting the forest sec­tor in a posi­tive light. Koneu­ra­kointi Vel­jek­set Man­ni­nen Ky is a com­pany with a long his­tory. It is enga­ged in reliable and high-qua­lity envi­ron­men­tally friendly acti­vi­ties. The com­pany works with the per­sis­tence that is cha­rac­te­ris­tic of the region of Kai­nuu and does exactly what it pro­mi­ses.

Arvo and Markku’s fat­her Han­nes star­ted as a cont­rac­tor in the 1960s. The com­pany con­ti­nues in Han­nes Man­ni­nen Ky’s foots­teps and is a sha­re­hol­der of Forest Logis­tics Oy, a regio­nal cont­rac­ting com­pany. Cur­rently, the com­pany works for UPM in the regions of Kai­nuu, North Ostro­both­nia and Lapland, emplo­ying eight people.

LIFE­TIME ACHIE­VE­MENT AWARDS

In recog­ni­tion of their sig­ni­ficant cont­ri­bu­tion as forest mac­hine ent­repre­neurs to Finland’s fore­stry, excel­lence in har­ves­ting, and the country’s eco­no­mic growth in the past, the Einari Vidgrén Foun­da­tion gave life­time achie­ve­ment awards to Timo Tolppa and Markku and Mauri Kanervo. The life­time achie­ve­ment awards were given for a long and meri­ted career in forest mac­hine cont­rac­ting.

With his posi­tive atti­tude, Timo Tolppa has deve­lo­ped Met­sä­ko­ne­pal­velu Oy into a sig­ni­ficant ope­ra­tor in the forest industry. Timo has boldly tried new concepts and deve­lo­ped the company’s acti­vi­ties with deter­mi­na­tion, both in Fin­land and Swe­den. He is also a long-stan­ding mem­ber of the associa­tion of mac­hine ent­repre­neurs. Timo is the first reci­pient of the Einari Vidgrén Foundation’s award in the second gene­ra­tion after his fat­her Tauno Tolppa recei­ved the award for his long career in forest mac­hine cont­rac­ting in 2014.

Markku and Mauri Kanervo have wor­ked for seve­ral deca­des as mac­hine cont­rac­tors. They took their first steps in har­ves­ting as little boys in the 1950s, hel­ping their fat­her in horse log­ging. Later, the brot­hers wit­nes­sed and expe­rienced all the pha­ses in the mec­ha­ni­sa­tion of the forest industry.

Now 74 and 75 years of age, they con­ti­nue to employ three exter­nal full-time mac­hine ope­ra­tors. Koneyh­tymä Kanervo Mauri ja Markku Ky works with Livia Col­lege, giving young stu­dents an oppor­tu­nity to train and acquire skills during their stu­dies. This part­ners­hip is a key asset for the future, and the brot­hers find it impor­tant to sup­port industry trai­ning and educa­tion.

Read more about the reci­pients of recog­ni­tion awards inter­views at evsaatio.fi.