District Administrator Erny Visits the Koehler Group
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- First official visit to Koehler Group headquarters in Oberkirch
- District Administrator highlights the need to support green energy production activities by regional industry
- Regional job security and value creation top list of priorities
When the new Koehler Group site in Willstätt, Germany was inaugurated at the beginning of June 2025, District Administrator (Landrat) of the Ortenau Thorsten Erny highlighted the fact that the Koehler Group was clearly “investing in brains, skills, and the future” in his speech. Now, a couple of months later, Erny has paid his first official visit to the family business’ headquarters in Oberkirch. During his visit, he expressly mentioned that the right conditions must be created in the German state of Baden-Württemberg so that the regional industry will be able to provide itself with green energy.
Green power at competitive prices needed in order to secure value creation in Baden-Württemberg
During District Administrator Erny’s visit, Koehler Group representatives underscored just how important it is for German SMEs to see a change in energy prices in Germany in order to become competitive once again. Koehler Group COO Dr. Stefan Karrer had the following to say: “Due to high energy costs in Germany, we’re experiencing enormous competitive disadvantages in an industry where competition is global. In order to be able to ensure job security and value creation in this country, we really need to once again have public grid energy prices that are internationally competitive and can be reliably budgeted for.” On top of this, the lion’s share of international customers now wants products that have been produced with green power.
This is why the Koehler Group has set for itself the goal of producing more renewable energy with its own plants than is required for its paper production by 2030. “In order to be able to produce green power at competitive prices, we need to generate green energy locally in the vicinity of our large production sites, and a perfect example of that is wind power,” Dr. Karrer added. Erny then chimed in, pointing out that creating the necessary conditions for the industrial sector is something that the government is responsible for. “As a permitting agency, the Ortenau district has taken advantage of extensive specialized expertise to establish structures that proactively help make wind power projects in the Ortenau region a reality, provided that they have the necessary backing.” During his stint as the Mayor of the German town of Gengenbach, Erny successfully oversaw the construction of a community wind farm that is partially owned by the town’s residents.
Best regards
Alexander M. Stöckle Corporate Director Marketing & Communications Press Spokesperson
Koehler Holding SE & Co. KG
Tel: +49 7802 81-4749 Fax: +49 7802 81-5749 mailto:alexander.stoeckle@koehler.com