When dedication grows roots
When the youngsters' thirst for action meets sustainability awareness and an anniversary, creativity knows no bounds. This year, Junior Company 2024/2025, the program for apprentices and dual students at Eberspächer, created the so-called “OasE”, an outdoor area in Esslingen.
28 July 2025 – As part of the Junior Company, apprentices and dual students have exactly one year to dedicate themselves to a specific project, from the initial idea through to implementation. In the program, the young talents surpass themselves in each new round – and not only get to know processes and the company better, but also develop their individual skills and competencies.
JUNIOR COMPANY WITH A FOCUS ON SUSTAINABILITY
The teams are basically free to develop their ideas – the only requirement is that the topic of sustainability is an integral part of each annual round. 2025 also marks the 160th anniversary of the Eberspächer Group. Reason enough for the apprentices and dual students to look back and look to the future. The result: the “OasE”, a retreat on the Esslingen site that serves as a short break and focuses on the milestones in the company's history.
“We wanted to take an active part by ourselves,” says Jamie Blum, who is managing the project together with Vanessa Hoferer as a dual student. This is exactly what characterizes the Junior Company: the interlocking of theoretical learning with a concrete practical relevance. “We planned the OasE on paper and then brought it to life on the company premises,” reports Vanessa, an industrial clerk apprentice with an additional qualification. According to the two, representing the entire team, the exchange across different departments was particularly valuable: from purchasing to accounting, facility management and occupational safety to the trainees at the Neunkirchen site in Saarland. "There were many exciting insights into the company structures, which resulted in close cooperation. Everyone has supported us in our project and we receive positive feedback," says Jamie happily.
On the way to the finished outdoor area, the project team had many small intermediate stages on the agenda, such as the delivery of the bee-friendly perennials, which the trainees and students planted together with the Glühwürmchen daycare center, as well as the manufacturing of the first “milestone”, which represents the company's history.
MAKING HISTORY VISIBLE
The “milestones” reflect innovations or special company successes in Eberspächer's history. They were planned and made by the technical trainees at the Purem by Eberspächer site in Neunkirchen. A total of 25 of these milestones adorn the path around the OasE. They show in an impressive way how constantly Eberspächer has developed over 160 years of company history. As part of the opening ceremony, the members of Junior Company 2024/2025 laid the last stone together with the management, represented by CEO Jörg Steins and Martin Peters, Managing Partner. Both were supporters of the plan from the outset.
Beneath the visible results, the apprentices and DHBW students benefited from further learning through the Junior Company. In addition to intensive networking and knowledge of processes and structures, the team led by project managers Jamie and Vanessa was able to improve their own project and time management in particular. An important learning factor that will be required again and again in their future careers.