Foment awards the Medals of Honor to businessmen Enrique Lacalle, Víctor Grífols and Raimon Grífols

On the occasion of the first Business Day, Foment del Treball celebrated its 250th anniversary with a special event, which included the presentation of the Medals of Honor and the fifteenth edition of the Carles Ferrer Salat awards. Les Drassanes Reials de Barcelona hosted this event, which was attended by the President of the Government, Pere Aragonès; the President of the Parliament, Laura Borràs; and the Minister of Business and Labor, Roger Torrent; among other political authorities and social and business agents from the regional and state spheres.

The Catalan employers' association grants these distinctions and awards to recognize and distinguish the work carried out by the business sector during the last year or throughout its trajectory. This annual awards ceremony also pays tribute to Carles Ferrer Salat, a key businessman in the rebirth of Foment in 1977 with the arrival of democracy. The award winners represent the business and human values that Ferrer Salat embodied according to Foment: dialogue and openness, generosity, effort, tenacious leadership, and the capacity for innovation in favor of the progress of companies, economic activity, and the well-being of society.

At the awards ceremony, the president of Foment, Josep Sánchez Llibre, vindicated the figure of the businessman and entrepreneur, and highlighted the need to celebrate a date like Business Day: "In the same way that Workers' Day is celebrated, we understood that it was also good to transmit to society the social value that we businessmen create from a point of view of wealth generation, of social cohesion." The president of Foment called for the responsibility of unions, businessmen, workers, governments, the different public administrations, and political representatives "to row in the same direction" in the face of the "economic storm that is coming upon us and that economic organizations around the world predict."

The first to receive the award has been Enrique Lacalle, president of Automobile Barcelona since 2001, awarded for his business career spanning multiple management positions in different companies. Immediately after, Víctor and Raimon Grífols, joint CEOs of the Catalan pharmaceutical group Grifols, collected the medal. They were considered "entrepreneurs of the year" for having strengthened the company's international presence and for having made innovation and sustainability their major bets for the future.

Raimon Grífols wanted to highlight "the good line of action that Foment has had with companies" and thanked "the effort to contact us and understand what truly concerns us." The businessman took the opportunity to address the Catalan authorities present at the event directly and asked them to "work to make Catalonia once again the industrial engine of Southern Europe that it was between the 1980s and the beginning of the 21st century."

Raimon Grífols, to the Catalan authorities: "Work to make Catalonia once again the industrial engine of Southern Europe"

For his part, the president of the Generalitat closed the event by stating that "the Catalan economy has a future if it bets on innovation, collaboration between public administrations and the productive fabric, and shared commitments. We have always shown that, when we align the entrepreneurial capacity of the Catalan economic fabric, when we align the talent and transformative will of the Catalan public administrations, this country is absolutely unstoppable."

On the other hand, seven categories constituted the fifteenth edition of the Carles Ferrer Soler awards: the meat company Noel has been recognized for its social commitment; Agromillora has stood out for its innovation and use of new technologies; the real estate company Colonial has been awarded for its sustainable development; the chemical company Cromogenia Units has excelled for its internationalization; Unilever has been distinguished for its commitment to equality, and, finally, the spin-off promoted by Pompeu Fabra University (UPF) MiWendo Solutions and the media agency Roldós Media have been named ex aequo SMEs of the Year.

This act is a token of gratitude for the contribution of these entities and individuals to the economic and social progress of Catalonia. Furthermore, it is a vindication of the role that companies play in contributing shared value to respond to the demands of global co-responsibility and business competitiveness, a strategic concept for the future that integrates aspects such as talent management, responsible consumption, and sustainability.

In a context of economic recovery, after the consequences of the pandemic, Foment considers it necessary and opportune to recognize the effort of companies and raise awareness in society about the importance of valuing business projects that are beneficial for the economy, society, and the environment.