Schmalz's annual party was held last Friday in the Community Hall in Dornstetten. More than 450 guests, all of them company employees and their families, completed filled the hall.
This year's motto was "Schmalz goes Hollywood...", and all of the guests walked on the red carpet and the "Walk of Fame", which is so typical of Hollywood, into the Community Hall in Dornstetten.

After an excellent meal, which was delivered by the restaurant "Linde" in Glatten, the two managing directors, Dr. Kurt Schmalz and Wolfgang Schmalz, made short speeches looking back on the past year and outlining the future objectives of the company. "As of 31. November 2005, Schmalz employs more than 350 persons in countries all over the world. Of these, about 70 persons work in our subsidiary companies outside Germany. In 2005, we opened up three further subsidiaries, thus continuing our strategy of global growth. We are taking advantage of the opportunities in other countries and, at the same time, remaining loyal to our location in Glatten", said Dr. Kurt Schmalz. Wolfgang Schmalz added: "The positive working atmosphere is one of the main buttresses of our success. The low number of absences due to illness and the low personnel fluctuation rate confirm that we all get on well with each other. The sustained policy of your company was rewarded in November with the award of the "German Prize for Ethical Business Practices", something of which we are particularly proud." With respect to the outlook for the next year, he said: "Our expectations for the year 2006 are very positive. We will grow further and will continue to offer long-term employment."

After their speeches, the two managing directors and personnel manager Martin Helbling thanked 27 members of the staff for their loyalty to the company. One of these, Ruth Klein, was the first person to celebrate her twentieth anniversary with Schmalz.
14 other persons, including Wolfgang Schmalz, celebrated their fifteenth anniversary with the company, and 12 persons have been with the company for ten years.

After this short look at the events at Schmalz in 2005, the entertainment programme started, with contributions from films and show business. Various Schmalz employees presented their versions of the best scenes from films such as "Dirty Dancing", "The Jungle Book" and "Seven Dwarfs".
The grand finale was a show by the Schmalz trainees, with highlights from "Grease" and "MIB - Men in Black". The music for the entire evening was provided by the Schmalz Quintet and the Schmalz Big Band.

All in all, it was again a very successful party. For this we would particularly like to thank the Schmalz trainees, who were responsible for decorating the hall, providing the entertainment, organising everything and clearing up afterwards. Dr. Kurt Schmalz said that hey had done this very well and thanked them for their efforts.