Premix – Winner in the EY Entrepreneur of The Year competition

Picture: EY

The annual competition organized by EY rewards entrepreneurs who inspire others with their vision, leadership, and achievements.

A total of 51 Finnish growth companies participated in the 2022 competition, of which ten were selected for the finals. The winners were chosen by an independent jury broadly representing Finnish business expertise. Premix won the Family Business category in Finland.

"It's great to be awarded as the entrepreneur of the year, but the honor goes to all our employees and the hundred-year history of family entrepreneurship that Premix represents."

Hanna Ristola, Managing Director of Premix Group

Ristola is a family entrepreneur already in the fourth generation. His grandfather's father, Antti Kiikka, founded Tienhaara Sikuritehdas Oy in Vyborg in 1920. Shortly after that, the Pyramid Construction Company was born. Pyramid lost the stone houses it built in Vyborg and almost all of its property in The Second World War. After the war, the family took over the current Teknos paint factory, from which Hanna Ristola's father, also called Antti Kiikka, left in 1980 to found Premix.

Over the years, Premix has grown into a market leader and a global pioneer in developing electrically conductive plastics. Customized material solutions are delivered to the automotive and electronics industry, diagnostics, and the health and wellness industry.

Being selected as the family entrepreneur of the year is heartwarming. Still, in Hanna Ristola's opinion, an even more significant award came earlier this year when the US administration led by the Department of Defense decided to invest in the company's factory project in North Carolina. Construction in Gaston County is scheduled to begin in February. Employees are currently being recruited for the factory, and production is scheduled to start by autumn 2025. The investment grant from the US administration is 79.9 million dollars.

"The factory helps secure critical diagnostic supplies in the United States and, at the same time, serves our customers globally. The current geopolitical situation has shown the importance of the security of supply and supply chains. It is of significant importance to us that we are not dependent on one factory, but we have also invested in production in Finland. It helps secure manufacturing, even if a new pandemic or other market disruption occurs globally," CEO Hanna Ristola says.

More information:

Hanna Ristola
Managing Director, Premix Group
+358 50 545 9787
[email protected]

Links:
Premix Press release (in Finnish)
EY Press release (in Finnish)
EY Entrepreneur Of The Year competition (in Finnish)
EY World Entrepreneur Of The Year competition (in English)