EPG Business Chamber - list of members

Philip AMINOFF (Finland)

Philip Aminoff is Chairman of Electrosonic Group Oy Ab.
He is President of GEEF, the European Group of Owner Managed and Family Enterprises. In 2004 he was appointed Chairman of the Family Entrepreneurship Working Group set up by the Finnish government to assess the need for policy action in this area; the report was presented in May 2005.

Norman AQUILINA (Malta)

Norman Aquilina is the Chief Commercial Officer of the Farsons Group of Companies, a Maltese food and beverage company, of which he is also a member of the Executive Board.
He is the senior Vice-President of the Malta Chamber of Commerce & Enterprise and is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Malta Business Foundation.

Todorka ATANASOVA (Bulgaria)

Todorka Atanasova has been director of Varna Economic Development Agency since its establishment in 1997 as a joint initiative of the Municipality of Varna and the LGI (Local Government Initiative) programme of USAID.
She holds a diploma in Business Management from Georgetown University (USA) and in Economics from Varna Economic University (Bulgaria). Additionally, she has gained qualifications as a teacher of English Philology and Economics. Recently she was involved as a team leader and a consultant in the implementation of PHARE funded projects aimed at capacity building of local businesses, entrepreneurs, municipal & government officials.

Edwige AVICE (France)

Edwige Avice is Associated Director of BIPE (a consultancy providing forward-looking economic analyses) where she deals mainly with the European dimension of the French 'Poles of Competitiveness'.
For nine years she held ministerial positions: Minister for Youth Affairs and Sport (1981-1984), State Secretary for Defence (1984-1986), Minister with special responsibility for Foreign Affairs (1988-1991) and Minister for Cooperation and Development (1991-1992). In 1993 she created a capital venture company, Financière de Brienne, aimed at high tech SMEs from the sectors of Defence, Aeronautics and Space, which she managed for twelve years. In 1997, after a report to the French Minister of Defence on SMEs of the defence sector at a European level, she was tasked to create the Economic Committee for Defence, which she led until 2002.

Robert BERNEY (Ireland)

Robert Berney was owner manager of family owned SMEs in manufacturing, distribution and services in Ireland and the UK over the last 30 years. He owns P.C. Holdings Ltd. a consultancy and investment company specialising in SMEs. He has lectured and undertaken consultancy projects on SME policy in a number of EU countries. He was a member of Irish Government policy groups and the EU High level group on R&D.
He is a former chairman and current Board member of the Irish SME Association. He holds a PhD in small business development.

Henryka BOCHNIARZ (Poland)

Dr Henryka Bochniarz had an academic career before founding in 1990 one of the first consulting companies in Poland.
She was Minister for Industry and Trade in 1991-1992 and in that capacity she was responsible for restructuring and privatising 7000 Polish firms. She is President of the Polish Confederation of Private Employers Lewiatan since 1999. She also serves as Vice President of BusinessEurope, the umbrella organisation for employers' associations in the EU.

Paolo BRUNI (Italy)

Paolo Bruni is President of Confcooperative Ferrara and president of Apo Conerpo, an association of fruit and vegetable producers which groups together 17,000 agricultural holdings through a system of co-operatives in the Emilia Romagna region.
He is President of C.S.O. (Centro Servizi Ortofrutticoli), a company which deals with statistics, increasing value and logistics. He is also Vice-President of Conserve Italia, a company in the tinned vegetables sector. He is president of Fedagri-Confcooperative, the Italian National Federation of Agricultural Co-operatives and Vice-President of COGECA, the General Confederation of Agricultural Co-operatives in the European Union.

Martine CLEMENT (France)

Martine Clément is President of the strategic committee of Aalberts Industries France, the French holding of an international industrial group providing industrial services.
She is also the manager of the company VIC EURL, a consultancy in strategic development. She is a member of the French Economic and Social Council. She is a member of the Board of the European Committee, and previously a Vice-Chair, of the Mouvement des Entreprises de France (MEDEF) (the French Business Confederation).

Daniel DOLL-STEINBERG (United-Kingdom)

Daniel Doll-Steinberg is the Founder and Chief Executive of Tribeka Ltd., developer of the SoftWide system, a groundbreaking and potentially disruptive approach to the retail selling of software and digital media worldwide.
An honorary senior research associate of University College London, he is leading Tribeka's involvement with the University on a pilot secondment into knowledge project which aims to stimulate innovation by increasing interaction with Higher Education Institutions.

Tadeusz DONOCIK (Poland)

Tadeusz Donocik has been the Chairman and Manager of various companies since 1965.
He has been a President of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Katowice (Silesia) since 1990 and a Vice President of the Polish Chamber of Commerce since 1993. Between 2004 and 2006 he was a member of the European Economic and Social Committee. In 2006 he was a delegate to the Consultative Commission on Industrial Change of European Economic and Social Committee in Brussels.

Yves ELSEN (Luxembourg)

Yves Elsen is Managing Partner and CEO of HITC Luxembourg, which is active in high technology solutions covering different business areas: satellite ground segment technology, customer specific and standard equipment for testing and measuring of physical properties, engineering, consulting and project management.

Elisabeth FELDER (Austria)

Elisabeth Felder is since 1984 partner and managing director of the family business Felder KG (machines and tools for woodworking).
She is a member of the Supervisory Board and the General Assembly of the Social Insurance Fund of Tyrol and a member of the Strategic Advisory Board of the Competitiveness and Innovation Programme of the European Commission.

Bernard GRUTMAN (Belgium)

Bernard Grutman has been the CEO of construction companies of various sizes for more than 10 years.
He has been involved in different business associations (former President of the Belgian Federation of General Contractors, member of the Board of the Belgian Construction Confederation). He has been a member of Belgium's Central Council for the Economy.

Arndt KIRCHHOFF (Germany)

Arndt Kirchhoff is chairman, owner and CEO of Kirchhoff Automotive GmbH & Co. KG, a medium-sized family-owned company supplying the automobile industry.
He is the Chairman of the SME committee and member of the Executive Committee of the Bundesverband der Deutschen Industrie (German Business confederation).
He is the Chairman of the Committee for Small and Medium-Sized Companies and member of the Board of the Verband der Automobilindustrie (German Association of the Automotive Industry).
He is Chair of the Committee on Entrepreneurship & SME of BusinessEurope (The Confederation of European Business).

Ladislav KROCEK (Czech Republic)

Ladislav Krocek is Executive Vice President of Asociace montaznich firem technickych zarizeni, the Czech Association of Technical Contractors for Building Industry.
Prior to that he was Deputy Director for international relations at the Czech Confederation of Industry and Czech Chamber of Commerce and Country Manager of GE Lighting.

Richard MAUDSLAY (United-Kingdom)

Richard Maudslay is an engineer with a wide-ranging business career.
In 1992, he was appointed Managing Director of the Industrial Power Group of Rolls-Royce (covering all non-aeronautics interests) and joined the Rolls-Royce plc main Board until 1997. He is currently a non-executive director of various businesses in the North of England. He is Chairman of the North East Science and Industry Council. He is also Chairman of the Ministry of Defence's Defence Science and Technology Laboratory.

Manthos MAVROMMATIS (Cyprus)

Manthos Mavrommatis is Managing Director of a family business and Board Member of other private businesses.
He is President of the Cyprus Chamber of Commerce and Industry since 2005, previously he was president of the Nicosia Chamber of Commerce and Industry. He is a Board Member of the Bank of Cyprus. He has been a member of the Cypriot delegation in the European Economic and Social Committee

Eurico NEVES (Portugal)

Eurico Neves is founder and Chief Executive Officer of Inova+, a consultancy firm on innovation management and technology development.
He was a member of the secretariat of the Innovation Relay Centre Network. He is the author of two books on innovation and advisor on innovation matters to several international organisations.

Ovidiu NICOLESCU (Romania)

Ovidiu Nicolescu is Professor of Management and General Director of the International Comparative Management Centre at the Romanian Academy of Economics. He has written many books on management. In 2003 he received the OMNIA prize, the highest professional award for economists in Romania.
He is President of the Romanian SME Association. He is a member of the European Association of Craft, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (UEAPME) and the World Association of SMEs (WASME).

Elena PELLASCHIAR (Italy)

Elena Pellaschiar is the owner of a family-owned micro enterprise in the optical field.
She is the President of JEUNE, the organization representing young craftsmen and young entrepreneurs of SMEs in the European Union. She is a member of the Board of Administration of NORMAPME, the European Office of Crafts, Trades and Small and Medium- Sized Enterprises for Standardisation.

Ildikó POLGÁRNÉ MÁJER (Hungary)

Ildikó Polgárné Májer founded ValDeal Innovation PLC, the first integrated innovation and SME management company in Hungary in June 2006. ValDeal provides a broad range of services to seed stage technology companies with the aim of turning innovative solutions into real business value.
She is the Managing Director of CHIC, the Central Hungarian Innovation Center. She is the president of the recently established Association of Competitive SMEs in Hungary. She was named entrepreneur of the year by the Hungarian national association of entrepreneurs and employers in 2004.

Irena REZEC (Slovenia)

Irena Rezec is a Director at WOTRA, a consulting company that offers services related to internationalisation of businesses, to the establishment and management of business networks, and to the development of business support services and related capacity building.
Prior to that, she managed the Euro Info Centre of Ljubljana from 1996 to 2001. She is also a member of the European Council for Small Business and Entrepreneurship.

Otmar SCHUSTER (Germany)

Otmar Schuster is a geodetic surveyor and owner of Geohaus, which consists of several SMEs.
He is actively involved in the work of ZENIT, supporting companies (mainly SMEs) of North Rhine-Westphalia in areas such as innovation and financing. Over many years he has been very active in the German association of chartered surveyors (Bund der öffentlich bestellten Vermessungsingenieure) and was its President from 1985 to 1999. He was also President (1995-2005) of Geometer Europas, the European umbrella organisation. From 1986 to 1998 he was a member of the government's advisory committee for small-scale craft enterprises and the self-employed.

Yiannis TROULIS (Greece)

Yiannis Troulis is currently working for Intermas Consulting Ltd where he has been involved in technology marketing projects in Greece and Black Sea countries, in managing research projects for Greek Research Institutions and companies, in support services to technology transfer offices of Research Institutes in Greece, as well as in supporting the formation of regional and thematic research consortiums and networks and their activities.
He is also involved in regional development projects, SME innovation endeavours and business development support services such as industrial marketing, business plans, international marketing and trade. Previously, he acquired sixteen years of entrepreneurial experience in Canada as founder, owner and general manager of two companies; one involved in international trade of foodstuffs and the second involved in the packaging and distribution.

Betty VAN ARENTHALS-KRAMER FREHER (The Netherlands)

Betty Van Arenthals-Kramer Freher is Director of Fashion Lux s.a.r.l Luxembourg, Hotel Restaurant Belvédère Vianden Luxembourg, Piazza Mode and Piazza Corner Gorinchem.
She is Senior Advisor on European Affairs for MITEX, the organisation of the Dutch fashion sector and President of AEDT, European Association of Fashion Retailers.