5 New members on the Supervisory Board of Wirtschaftsförderung Jena

Six old and five new: This is what the new Supervisory Board of the Jena Economic Development Corporation (JenaWirtschaft) looks like. Since November, the board has been supporting the work of the municipal company with a new composition in order to continue actively shaping the economic development of the region.

"We are delighted with the mix of established members and new experts," says JenaWirtschaft Managing Director Wilfried Röpke. "The first meeting of the newly composed Supervisory Board is expected to take place in March 2025; the trusting cooperation is of course already underway via various channels and personal discussions."

He is particularly pleased that two women are also represented on the Supervisory Board for the first time, namely Manuela Vogt, Managing Director of the Jena/ SHK District Craftsmen's Association, and Stephanie Hänsch, Board Member of the industry network Jena Digital e.V.

In total, the Supervisory Board consists of eleven experienced leaders from business, science and public life:

1. Dr. Thomas Nitzsche - Lord Mayor of the City of Jena (Chairman of the Supervisory Board)

2. Michael Rabich - Chairman of the Board of Sparkasse Jena/ Saale-Holzland-Kreis

3. Prof. Dr. Andreas Marx - President of the Friedrich Schiller University Jena

4. Mihajlo Kolakovic - Representative of the economy at the suggestion of the IHK Ostthüringen

5. Stephanie Hänsch - Representative of the economy at the suggestion of the IHK Ostthüringen

6. Manuela Vogt - Business representative proposed by the IHK Ostthüringen, Jena/ Saale-Holzland district craftsmen's association

7. Prof. Dr. Jürgen Popp - Representative proposed by the industry networks OptoNet e.V. and medways e.V.

8. Jens Fischer (at the suggestion of the Jena City Council)

9. Prof. Dr. Ulrich S. Schubert (Member of the Jena City Council/ CDU)

10. Wolfgang Volkmer (Member of the Jena City Council/ The Greens)

11. Dr. Holger Becker (Member of the Bundestag/ SPD/ at the suggestion of the Jena City Council)

This diverse composition brings together expertise from the fields of finance, science, trade, human resources and business administration. With the addition of five new members, five former experts on the board are also saying goodbye: the Jena Wirtschaft team would like to thank Stefan Beyer (City Councillor/ FDP), Torsten Wolf (Member of the State Parliament/ DIE LINKE), Dr. Patrick Markschläger (Managing Director of SCHOTT in Jena), Robert Jahn (Managing Director of Truck-Center-Jena GmbH) and, of course, the previous Deputy Chairman of the Supervisory Board Christian Gerlitz (Mayor & Head of the Department for Urban Development and Environment) for their commitment in the past.

The new Supervisory Board is entering the forthcoming term of office with a shared vision and the commitment of all members. With its task of supporting the management in an auditing and advisory capacity, JenaWirtschaft is very well positioned to sustainably promote growth and competitiveness.