(Linz, June 2020) After 17 years of service to the Austrian economy, Ulrike Rabmer-Koller will end her role as Vice President of the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber on June 25.
In 2003, as a career changer, she was the first woman on the Executive Board of the Upper Austrian Chamber of Commerce, and between 2015 and 2020 she was then deputy to Christoph Leitl and Harald Mahrer at federal level. From 2016 - 2019, she was President of the European SME Association.
"After more than three periods in a leading position in the Chamber of Commerce, I am ending my work as WKO Vice President at my own request and on good terms. I can look back on an incredibly exciting and enriching time, with various positions at regional, national and international level. Entrepreneurs have always been at the center of my work. I am proud of what I have achieved and grateful for the many wonderful encounters! I would like to thank all my companions, especially the employees of the Chamber organization, for the many years of cooperation. I am now devoting more time to the further expansion of the Rabmer Group in the field of environmental technology and look forward to interesting new projects as an entrepreneur and member of the Supervisory Board," said Rabmer-Koller.
Rabmer-Koller began her political activities at municipal level. From 1997-2005, she was a local councillor and chairwoman of the family and social committee in her home municipality. From 2002 to 2003, she was on the provincial board of the Young Economy Upper Austria. In 2003, she was appointed as Rudolf Trauner's deputy on the WKOÖ Executive Board, where she was responsible for internationalization, young economy, women in the economy and funding until 2015.
From 2003, she was also part of the extended board of the Upper Austrian Economic Association and the Upper Austrian People's Party Conference as well as a member of the Economic Parliament of the Upper Austrian and Austrian Chambers of Commerce.
From 2010 to 2016, she was the regional chairwoman of "Frau in der Wirtschaft OÖ" and chairwoman of Betriebshilfe OÖ. In these roles, she primarily campaigned for better framework conditions and social security for female entrepreneurs. She was particularly keen to get more women interested in technical trades and to bring successful female entrepreneurs to the fore.
Rabmer-Koller has also been active at industry level: she has been a committee member of the Upper Austrian Construction Guild since 2005 and was deputy chairman of the Federal Trade and Crafts Division from 2011 to 2015.
In June 2015, she was appointed to the Presidium of the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber, where she served as Vice President until June 2020, championing the interests of the Austrian economy with a strong focus on SMEs and environmental technology. During the same period, she was also a member of the Executive Committee of the Austrian Economic Association.
From 2015-2017, she was Chairwoman of the Board of the Main Association of Austrian Social Insurance Institutions. Her resignation due to a lack of political support for her reform proposals on merging health insurance funds caused a stir in the media. The Kurz government subsequently implemented her proposals.
The European level was also a major concern for Rabmer-Koller. From 2016 to 2019, she was President of the European SME association SMEunited, which represents the interests of Europe's 24 million SMEs. In this role, she also took part in the regular EU social partner summits with the heads of the EU Commission and the EU Council. Previously, she was Vice President of the association and Chair of the Environment & Sustainability Committee from 2011 to 2015. She is now holding this position again.
Her commitment was also recognized by the EU Commission. It nominated her to several expert groups and functions. From 2013 - 2015, she was a member of the EU High-Level Group on "Key Enabling Technologies". In June 2017, she was invited by the EU Commission to attend the meeting of the G7 environment ministers in Bologna, where she worked with other company representatives to develop positions for better integration of ecology and economy. In December 2017, she was appointed to the High Level Group "Industry 2030", in which she developed the European Industrial Strategy 2030 together with 19 other experts from all over Europe. In 2018, she was nominated to the G20 Business Women Leader Task Force.
Rabmer-Koller also focused on innovation and environmental technology. She was also the initiator and long-standing advisory board spokesperson for the Clean-Tech Cluster Upper Austria and the Resource and Energy Efficiency Network, as well as an advisory board member of the "ACR - Austrian Cooperative Research" and Vice President of the ACT (Austrian Clean Technology Center).
Ulrike Rabmer-Koller is the second generation to manage the medium-sized Rabmer family group with eight companies. She joined her parents' company in 1992 and developed it into a full-service provider in the construction sector and an environmental technology specialist with a focus on trenchless pipe rehabilitation, water and energy efficiency and energy from wastewater. She is responsible for the innovative strength and internationalization of the group of companies. She has been the sole owner of the company since 2011. In addition to her management functions in the Rabmer Group, Ulrike Rabmer-Koller has also held and continues to hold numerous advisory and supervisory board positions.
She was awarded the Silver Medal of Honor of the State of Upper Austria for her commitment in 2016 and the professional title of Kommerzialrätin in 2017.
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