GICON celebrates its anniversary
25 years of engineering at the highest level
The GICON Group is turning 25. An anniversary of which the management and all employees are very proud. At the end of September, the celebration took place on the Stober Estate west of Berlin, so that all colleagues from the 16 locations throughout Germany could attend comfortably.
In just 25 years, GICON has developed from an engineering office in Dresden with around ten employees into a globally active engineering service provider renowned for its enormous expertise. True to the company motto "Everything from under one roof", the approximately 500 permanent and freelance employees provide complete services in the fields of facility planning and building design, environmental and approval planning, ecosystems, soil and water management as well as information technology. Our own certified experts and interdisciplinary teams work for public and private clients alike. GICON's range of services also includes the preparation of smaller expert reports as well as the management of complex, multi-sector projects with a duration of several years.
Our own QM and compliance management guarantee the highest standards and a high level of quality awareness. An experienced staff ensures that client wishes are custom fulfilled and individual solutions can be found. Successfully completed projects in Asia, Africa as well as North and South America round off our references.
From humble beginnings to the globally active engineering service provider
The GICON success story began on 1 October 1994 in an attic apartment in the south of Dresden. GICON founder Prof. Jochen Grossmann likes to remember this period of change: "It was a completely different world than it is today. Back then, we had to share a telephone connection with a neighbor, color monitors were considered a luxury item and in our first offices we had to decide between operating the heating or the computers. But at the same time, it was an extremely exciting time in which much had to be planned, built and renovated. Every employee was able to contribute his or her strengths and develop further through challenging projects. The fact that our first ten employees still work in the company today and have taken over management functions is part of our success story".
A further building block of our success is the in-house research that GICON conducts. "Innovations are a hallmark of our industry, which has to react time and again to new challenges and legal changes. This is why GICON provides comprehensive research services in cooperation with research institutes. With our own technology developments, such as the GICON® SOF and the GICON® photobioreactor, we are breaking new ground. Our goal is not only to help determine the state of the art, but also to open up future markets in a targeted manner," says Dr. Hagen Hilse, who is responsible for research, explaining the approach behind GICON’s research activities.
But the social aspect is also very important to the company. GICON has been supporting the Dresden-based Rollimaus Association for ten years now. Over the past few years, numerous donations in kind and money have been collected, with which, among other things, it has been possible to build a swing for wheelchairs. But much more important are the many joint activities, such as bowling, playing soccer and visiting the zoo, which GICON employees undertake with the children throughout the year. With children, some of whom are severely or multiply handicapped and who depend all day on care and attention, the time they spend together is very important.
But what would GICON be without its employees? It is they who shape the face of the company and represent it. And so the company celebration was also a thank you to all employees for the successful development of the company group and hopefully at the same time motivation for further development.
The common time was also in the foreground at the celebration of the anniversary itself. Old companions from the early days had their say, the employees could leaf through old brochures and look at photos from 25 years of company history. But at an innovative engineering service provider, not only the analog memories but also the digital technology could not be neglected: current marketing and trade fair films could be viewed as well as the latest 3D modelling via VR glasses. In addition to the long-standing employees, there were also many young faces to be discovered among those present, who hopefully will shape the events in the coming 25 years just as successfully as the founding generation around Prof. Grossmann has done so far and will continue to do.