Donation for Lohe’s open-air swimming pool

An affair of the heart for AGOFORM

The medium-sized Löhne-based family business has been in existence since 1928, and in 2018 thus celebrated its 90th company anniversary. 

“In1956 the company‘s founder, August Ottensmeyer, was the first to develop a plastic thermoformed cutlery insert and set up the necessary production. Since 1985 we have been producing furniture fronts with various decorative surfaces. This was followed in 1994 by the development of the first polystyrene-based non-slip mat“, says Louisa Pusch from the Marketing Department.

AGOFORM is Europe’s largest manufacturer of precision-fitting plastic drawer inserts. Around 22,000 cutlery inserts are produced every day for export to over 60 countries throughout the world. “No matter what the drawer, we have a suitable solution, in the form of variable inserts and non-slip mats in various shapes and sizes. There’s hardly a kitchen drawer in Europe that hasn’t been equipped with one of our products”, reports Managing Director Michael Ruprecht with some degree of pride.

“In order to build on our success, we need suitably qualified young people for the future as well as professionally experienced specialists and managers. That’s why we’re always on the lookout for suitable trainees and are happy to inform anyone interested about our training programmes and the options available for advanced training”, Louisa Pusch explains. We presently offer training in four professions, including process mechanic for plastics and rubber technology. In order to make the training content accessible to the young people and give them a better understanding of it, various collaborations with schools have been set up which also offer the possibility of practical work experience.

Something particularly close to Ruprecht’s heart is employee satisfaction: “It is our aim to accompany our employees from recruitment to retirement. This includes mutual appreciation and cooperation based on trust as well as optimum living conditions and possibilities for development."

That’s why social responsibility and involvement in the company’s immediate vicinity is a priority. In this way, kindergarten, primary school and sports clubs are supported. Ruprecht emphasises that he considers it to be extremely important to maintain sports and leisure activities and facilities for the residents, and above all the children, in order to preserve the residential community and economic location.

“That’s why today attention is being directed also to the open-air swimming pool in Lohe”, the club’s secretary Doris Unger happily reports, referring to the generous donation. “At the moment we are busy giving concrete shape to the plans to modernise the pool’s changing rooms and shower cubicles, and it goes without saying that we are pleased to receive any sum that helps create a financial basis for us.” And Frithjof Höbel from the promoting association adds: “We are extremely grateful that on the basis of our own initiative and special campaigns contributions are forthcoming to us. And we are, of course, pleased about any other support that helps to ensure that the modernisation project, long since in the pipeline but not possible to fund solely out of the proceeds from admission fees, can finally be implemented.”

AGOFORM has been located at its headquarters in the Gewerbestraße in Löhne since 1970 and throughout that time has been and continues to be constantly extended and modernised. The employees, the majority of whom have been working for the company already for decades, hail from the region. Some of them now even represent the second generation of family members employed there. AGOFORM currently has a workforce totalling 160 employees.

To many customers and suppliers the growing company has been a reliable partner over decades, time and again developing new products and innovation solutions. The latest new product is the herb container that brings fresh greenery to midway recesses, worktop cut-outs or suspended shelving.