Sto Foundation again increases funding budget
The mission of the non-profit Sto Foundation is to foster the next generation of professionals in the building trades and architecture, and to support them on their path toward a successful career. Now, the four Stotmeister families will increase the amount of money available for that mission. In 2018, a total of €900,000 will be available for national and international projects. The Sto Foundation Council from left to right: Prof. Peter Cheret (Foundation Council member for architecture), Till Stahlbusch (member of the Foundation Council Board and Treasurer), Konrad Richter (Foundation Council member for building trades), Jochen Stotmeister (Chairman of the Supervisory Board of STO Management SE and Deputy Chairman of the Foundation Council Board), seated: Uwe Koos (Chairman of the Foundation Council Board). Photo: Sto Foundation
In 2005, the company then known as Sto AG founded the non-profit Sto Foundation to mark its 50th anniversary.
Since then it has become an enduring institution with a long-lasting positive impact. For some 13 years now, key market partners of Sto have benefited from it in a variety of ways. The concept behind the Foundation is rooted in the conviction that knowledge – both that of individuals as well as that of communities – is essential to individual and joint success.
Highly skilled craftsmen as well as designers and architects who pay attention to details have always been one of the keys to Sto's success. They are the ones who are responsible for turning the high-quality semi-finished products and system components from Sto into a final product on the construction site.
Working hand in hand with the building trades and the architectural community, Sto has developed over the years into what it is today – and it owes them a special debt of gratitude. The activities of the Sto Foundation have to be viewed in this context. Its mission is focused on nurturing new talent in the building trades and architecture – which means the Foundation helps young people who are gifted and ambitious, but who might also be considering ending their training prematurely due to difficult financial circumstances. The Foundation supports them financially and, through its funding, it has been able to help many young talents launch their careers. As recent years have demonstrated, the Foundation’s assistance is increasingly needed and in demand. And that is why Sto and the founding family have kept increasing the funding budget. When the Foundation was first established, a sum of more than €200,000 was made available for 2006. The budget then increased to €350,000 in 2010 – and then to €600,000 in 2015 to mark the Foundation’s tenth anniversary.
Now, even more funds are being added as part of the Foundation’s aim to support up-and-coming industry talent internationally. The four Stotmeister families, each of which has contributed to the Foundation in every year of its existence, have now increased the sum they dedicate to the Sto Foundation to a total amount of €300,000 per year. As a result, in 2018 the Foundation Council members will have an annual budget of €900,000 at their disposal for financing national assistance measures as well as a growing number of international ones. With their continued support, the Stotmeister families once again demonstrate how close and dedicated they are to the company and the Foundation alike.
During the last Foundation Council meeting in late November 2017, Jochen Stotmeister, member of the Foundation Council Board and Chairman of the Supervisory board of Sto Management SE, explained: "Even though no member of the Stotmeister family currently holds a management position in the company, it is very important to the families to be visibly involved in the company and the Foundation, to maintain a constant presence, to provide input and to continue to help determine the path that Sto is to take into the future."
This year, the Foundation's programme includes extensive international projects as well as new ones: For example, in the area of the building trades, the Foundation will be involved in Málaga in southern Spain. As part of a two-week summer school, a dance school for the local community will be renovated. This will involve eight qualified Spanish plasterers based in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. They will team up with eight unemployed young people from southern Spain, who will learn the basics of plastering in a joint trade camp – giving them a preliminary qualification that will allow them to begin their career with a Spanish business. In the field of architecture, the University of Madrid will be added this year to Sto’s prestigious November Talks, a lecture series in which world-renowned architects deliver valuable insights into their work in front of a student audience. The series, which includes four lectures at each location in November, has already been established at universities in Stuttgart, Prague, Graz, Milan, London, and Paris.
