The Stark family awarded as Entrepreneurs of the Year in Sweden

Väderstad was founded in 1962 by Rune and Siw Stark and remains a true family business where the second and in most recent years also the third generation of the family continues to run the company. Now the second generation of the family Stark has been awarded “Entrepreneurs of the year” by Dagens Industri, a Swedish business magazine with more than 300 000 daily readers. In their motivation, the jury writes:

“The siblings Crister, Christina, Andreas and Bo Stark have with great success and foresight driven the production and sale of agricultural machinery from Väderstad, where the parents founded the company in 1962. Väderstad has created the conditions for a more sustainable and efficient agriculture through high-tech agricultural machinery and world-class methods. The reasons for the success are many, such as the owners' innovative ability, the good cooperation between them, the courage to enter the world market and the local anchoring”.

– We believe in long-term sustainability and continuity. Väderstad started as a small family business with a desire to improve and simplify the daily work for our farmers. Although much has happened since then, it is still the soul and heart of our business, while we have shown time and again that we can innovate, take the next step and be the company that drives development forward. My siblings and I are extremely proud of this award, but we are equally proud of all our talented employees and our management. Without them, we would not have gotten to where we are today, says Christina Stark, Chairman of the Board at Väderstad in a comment to the award.

On February 1st 2022, Henrik Gilstring will take up the post as CEO of Väderstad. Henrik, who is the son of Christina Stark and the grandson of Rune and Siw Stark, will thus carry on the family tradition when he takes over from Väderstad's current CEO Mats Båverud.

– I have grown up with Väderstad and look forward to playing a part of when we continue to develop and grow in a sustainable way. Earlier this year we invested in a factory in the USA and we have many exciting challenges ahead of us, both on existing and new markets. Väderstad has come a long way since it all began in my grandfather's workshop in 1962, but at the same time our journey has only just begun, says Henrik Gilstring.

The award will be presented at a ceremony in Stockholm, Sweden, today September 2nd.