Lars Luderer proves one fact clearly: success and enthusiasm in your job have nothing to do with being aloof.

Both success and enthusiasm are important to him. On the one hand, the managing director of Goldbeck GmbH has to make decisions, which extend far beyond the Vogtland region and also affect other company business sites in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. On the other hand, the company places great importance on local roots at its headquarters in Treuen – and has given the conference rooms quaint names like the Bärenstein room or the Fichtelberg room. “All of them are named after mountains in our region. That’s fitting and I like it,” he says. The graduate in civil engineering celebrates his 25th anniversary at Goldbeck in Treuen in 2017.

“I had the chance of moving away from the Vogtland region several times – to another site within the company, for example. But I could never bring myself to do it.”

The 50-year-old has lived in Falkenstein since his childhood. “I travel a lot and am very familiar with other regions too. But my parents, my friends and my family are all here. You find a sense of security in our fast-moving world at the place where you grew up and where you are familiar with what happens. The things that don’t change are important to me and are an anchor.” As a genuine native of the Vogtland region, he appreciates one thing about his home: the forests. “I enjoy the region – looking for mushrooms or going cycling.” He has been an ambassador for the Vogtland region since 2008 – and was the first to receive this honour along with Friedemar Götz from Vowalon Beschichtungs GmbH, another company based in Treuen. “During my trips, the Vogtland region is always a topic of conversation for me. On the one hand, because I enjoy coming back home and, on the other hand, because I can tell others why I love my home region.”

The Goldbeck company has four factories in Germany – and the site in Treuen has existed since 1991.

“Its location within Germany is excellent – and you can quickly travel abroad using the transport links too. Steel construction work has also been a long-standing tradition in the Vogtland area,” Luderer says; he joined Goldbeck after completing his university course in 1992. Today, the 500 members of staff include a large number of architects and engineers, who plan industrial warehouses and other buildings. 120 people also work in the assembly department. And almost everybody from the Vogtland area has already entered a Goldbeck-built structure – or at least seen one: the Kolonnaden shopping centre in Plauen, the four multi-storey car parks in Plauen and two in Reichenbach, the sports park in Plauen and the commercial buildings for different companies in the Vogtland area were all planned in the rooms in Treuen – including those for Magnetto, Warwick, Meiser gratings or Allgaier. “We’re currently completing the new multi-storey car park for the District Administrator’s Office in conjunction with Bauplanung Plauen GmbH.”

“Working in the Vogtland area is very agreeable for us as a building company. People’s word counts here. We normally don’t need hundreds of pages of contracts prepared by a lawyer to settle a deal. It’s all about reliability and that’s what you find here in the Vogtland region. I also appreciate the lack of bureaucracy: it’s possible for us, the responsible authorities and the local authorities to agree on matters quickly. I know that other regions often experience a considerable time lag in these kinds of decisions.”

Vita Lars Luderer

• Born in Rodewisch in 1966
• Studied in Leipzig, graduating as a civil engineer
• Started work at Goldbeck GmbH immediately in 1992
• Has worked at Goldbeck in the design, project management, sales departments and finally as managing director
• Married with two children