Berlin: On Wednesday, 24 November 2004, Dr. Kurt Schmalz and Wolfgang Schmalz, both managing directors of the medium-sized company J. Schmalz GmbH in Glatten in the Black Forest, received the prize "Ecological Manager 2004". With this prize  its initiators, the magazine CAPITAL and the environmental foundation WWF Deutschland, reward the excellent efforts of all employees and the management of J. Schmalz GmbH in the area of environmental protection in the company.

The prize "Ecological Manager" is awarded annually (2004 is the 14th time) in three categories, for large companies, medium-sized companies and special prizes. It is the highest national award for environmental protection in business. Candidates for the prize cannot apply for it; they have to be proposed by other organisations. In this case, the BDI (Federal Association of German Industry) nominated Dr. Kurt Schmalz and Wolfgang Schmalz who, with their company J. Schmalz GmbH, have already received the BDI Environmental Prize and the European Green Week Award in 2004.

The prize "Ecological Manager" must be regarded as the "crown" of the internationally awarded prizes for protection of the environment, since one of its initiators, the WWF, is the largest private organisations for protection of nature and the environment in the world. The award of the environmental prize "Ecological Manager 2004" to J. Schmalz GmbH is the reward for an exemplary ecological initiative at all levels of the company which is almost unique among the medium-sized companies in Germany. The driving forces behind this initiative are the two managing directors, Dr. Kurt Schmalz and Wolfgang Schmalz, who are supported enthusiastically by all of their employees.

A further service of the two "ecological pioneers" Dr. Kurt Schmalz and Wolfgang Schmalz to the environment is the fact that they have clearly shown and proved that economic and ecological aspects can be compatible with each other, with the consequent positive effects for all participants.

The well-earned praise for the company's environmental management principles, which have been upheld even in the face of a rapidly increasing turnover in the past few years, is reflected in the various national and international environmental prizes awarded to the company in the past: these include the "Environmental Award of the State of Baden-Württemberg" in 1998, the "Environmental Prize of the State of Baden-Württemberg" for industry in 2000, together with the "Environmental Prize of the BDI" and the "European Green Week Award" which the company received in 2004. In the same year, J. Schmalz GmbH also achieved an excellent position in the competition "Germany's Best Employers", organised by the German economics magazine CAPITAL. This clearly shows, in a different way, that work and the protection of the environment really go hand in hand at Schmalz.