Hanspeter Gafner, when you founded STEBATEC in 1990, you and your business partners laid the foundation for a long success story. What were your motives back then?
Our primary goal was to be able to respond better and more purposefully to the support of the many existing customers with our independence from superordinate existing operating structures. Another reason was the rapid technical development in the field of «control systems for wastewater treatment plants». This demanded short and fast decision-making processes from us.
At the same time as the company, you are also celebrating your 30th anniversary at STEBATEC. We congratulate you very warmly on this. What gives you the most pleasure?
Thank you for the congratulations, yes a long time. It has now been 44 years since I started working in wastewater treatment. In other words, always in the service of environmental protection. What gives me the greatest pleasure is that STEBATEC, which was founded in 1990, still represents the same values as 30 years ago: Honesty towards customers, employees and business partners.
I am also very pleased that after all this time we are still working for many customers (e.g. WWTP Meiringen since 1978) who we had the pleasure of serving before STEBATEC was founded. The little tree STEBATEC has developed into a beautiful established tree in the past years. Therefore, my thanks also go to ALL those who in the past have been involved in any way for the good of the STEBATEC company and have made an important contribution.
With foresight and a great deal of skill, you successfully secured the succession of STEBATEC at an early stage. What advice do you give the management for the future?
I am actually most proud of the fact that it was possible to arrange the succession in good time in the interest of all concerned. I don’t want to give any advice, but I do have one wish: always remain humble. Humility means accepting the external circumstances without complaining about them and not taking yourself too seriously.
Thank you very much Hanspeter Gafner, for the interview. Now there is only one question left. You invented many of STEBATEC’s products and features and have strongly influenced them over many years. This also includes the company name – how did you come up with the timeless and concise name?
It was not so easy to find a suitable name that had a connection with the activity and could also be pronounced in French.
In the end, it emerged from the original activity and a play on words:
STEBATEC is the abbreviation of Steuerungsbautechnik.
