The sixth term awards of the North Star Family Business Sustainability Program, developed by TAIDER Family Business Association and opened to the participation of family companies since 2017, were given to their owners at a ceremony held at Istanbul Bilgi University santralistanbul Campus.
Aromsa, who won the North Star Award, also won the "Employees" category award. Speaking at the opening of the ceremony, after a moment of silence for those who lost their lives in the earthquake, TAIDER Family Business Association Chairman Tekin Urhan said, “As TAIDER Family Business Association, we have left 11 years behind. We aimed to be a guide for the healthy and strong transfer of family businesses to future generations. It is very important to focus on what we can do better. The Sustainability Program at Kuzey Yıldızı Family Companies, which has brought us together here today, is also very important in this respect. It is important to always focus on happy, hopeful futures and the 100th anniversary of our Republic.”
Summarizing the developments in the world in the name of sustainability and reminding the natural disasters such as earthquake, flood and mucilage in our country, Urhan continued his words as follows:
“There are four problems in the Anthropocene age after the industrial revolution; global warming, loss of biodiversity, social inequality and acidification of the oceans. Global warming is currently at the level of 1.1 degrees, but if we continue to live like this, the apparent risk is that the warming will increase to 3-4 degrees. The live mortality rate will be around 15-40%. The annual loss of life due to global warming is expected to be 300 people. The decline in biodiversity is very worrying. A forest the size of a football field takes only 4 seconds to disappear. A third of the population of Central and West Africa does not have access to clean water. The working rate of women is still very low.”
Tekin Urhan also mentioned what TAIDER Family Business Association has done to eliminate all this worrying situation and said, “We determine the impact areas by considering the concept of sustainability in 360 degrees, namely corporate management, employees, business model, family and next generation, environment and society. We organize awareness-raising trainings and meetings in order to develop sustainable business models, to be inspired by the best examples, to develop as an organization at all levels, and to create a platform where sustainable developments will be achieved where everyone can learn from each other. Thanks to the evaluation report submitted to the institutions applying for the North Star, the areas that have been developed and to be developed are determined. The evaluators trained during the program find the field of learning with both theoretical and practical knowledge and applying what they learned in their own companies.” said.
In the North Star Program, which was held for the sixth time this year, the pulse of the companies that took great steps towards sustainability was felt in the process carried out meticulously, sincerely and transparently by 40 evaluators who held more than 300 meetings and held more than 24 hours of interviews with the participating companies. According to the evaluations, Sepiciler Çaybaşı Deri was awarded in the “environment” category, Aytim Tekstil in the “society” category, Deteks Kimya in the “corporate management” category, Vanelli Tekstil in the “business model” category and Aromsa Besin in the “employees” category. The North Star Award was also given to Aromsa Food Company.
The sessions held before the award ceremony were also followed with interest. TEB Corporate Investment Banking Senior Manager for Sustainability Tuna Öztürk Vardar made a presentation on “Sustainable Finance and Positive Impact Projects”.
In the "Internal Entrepreneurship" session held under the leadership of TAIDER Sustainability and Social Responsibility Committee Chairman Berna Kırcı Aşiroğlu, Yorglass Board Member, Corporate Communications Department Manager and Ming App Founder, TAİDER Member Merve Yorgancılar Işıtmak and Yeşilova Group Chief Executive Officer, TAİDER Member Yalçın Yeşilova shared his experiences.
After the “Carbon Footprint Calculation” presentation by Mazars Denge Corporate Sustainability Services Partner Yaman Alkan, the “North Star Passengers” session was held. In the session chaired by TAIDER Sustainability and Social Responsibility Committee Co-Chair Gülfem Yorgancılar Perçin, Mutlu Metal Human Resources Manager, TAIDER North Star Senior Evaluator Dilara Baltacı, FDN Group Corporate Management Director Yeşim Akdeniz and Uludağ Beverage Strategic Planning Manager, TAİDER Member Nuri Cem Erbak spoke. took.
TAIDER Sustainability and Social Responsibility Committee Member Osman Aytaman, director of the "Conversation on Sustainability" session, summarized the North Star studies with numerical data.
On the other hand, TEB was the main sponsor, Mazaars was the platinum sponsor, and Istanbul Bilgi University was the venue sponsor of the North Star Award Ceremony.