(Linz, June 2020) After 17 years of service to the Austrian economy, Ulrike Rabmer-Koller will end her function as Vice-President of the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber on 25 June.
In 2003, as a career changer, she was the first woman in the presidency of the Economic Chamber of Upper Austria, then between 2015 and 2020 she was deputy to Christoph Leitl and Harald Mahrer at the federal level. From 2016 – 2019, she was President of the European SME Association.
“After more than three periods in a leading position in the Economic Chamber, I am ending my work as WKO Vice-President at my own request and on good terms. I look back on an incredibly exciting and enriching time, with different stations at regional, national and international level. Entrepreneurs have always been at the centre 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 staff of the Chamber organisation, for their many years of cooperation. Now I am devoting myself more to the further expansion of the Rabmer Group in the field of environmental technology and I am looking forward to interesting new projects as an entrepreneur and member of the supervisory board,” said Rabmer-Koller.
Rabmer-Koller started her political activities at municipal level. From 1997 to 2005 she was a local councillor and chairperson of the family and social committee in her home municipality. From 2002 to 2003, she was a member of the regional board of Junge Wirtschaft OÖ. In 2003, she was appointed to the presidium of WKOÖ as Rudolf Trauner’s deputy, where she was responsible for the topics of internationalisation, young business, women in business and subsidies until 2015.
From 2003, she was also part of the extended board of the Upper Austrian Business Association and the Upper Austrian People’s Party (OÖVP) provincial party conference, as well as a member of the business parliament of the Upper Austrian and Austrian Chambers of Commerce.
From 2010 to 2016, she was the regional chairperson of “Frau in der Wirtschaft OÖ” and chairperson of Betriebshilfe OÖ. In these functions, she primarily advocated for better framework conditions and social security for women entrepreneurs. She was particularly concerned to inspire more women to take up technical professions and to bring successful women entrepreneurs to the forefront.
Rabmer-Koller was also active at sector level: since 2005 she has been a committee member of the Building Guild of Upper Austria and from 2011 to 2015 she was Deputy Chairman of the Federal Section for Trade and Crafts.
In June 2015, she was appointed to the Presidium of the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber, where she served as Vice-President until June 2020, promoting 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 Presidium 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.
A major concern for Rabmer-Koller was also the European level. From 2016 to 2019, she chaired the European SME association SMEunited, which represents the interests of Europe’s 24 million SMEs. In this role, she also participated 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 Federation and Chair of the Environment & Sustainability Committee from 2011 to 2015. She continues to hold this position now.
Her commitment was also recognised by the EU Commission. She was nominated to several expert groups and functions. From 2013 to 2015, she was a member of the EU High-Level Group on “Key Enabling Technologies”. In June 2017, at the invitation of the EU Commission, she took part in the meeting of the G7 Environment Ministers in Bologna, where she worked out positions for a better integration of ecology and economy together with other company representatives. 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 spokesperson of the advisory board of the Clean-Tech Cluster Upper Austria and the Resource and Energy Efficiency Network, as well as a member of the advisory board of the “ACR- Austrian Cooperative Research” and vice-president of the ACT (Austrian Clean Technology Center).
Ulrike Rabmer-Koller is the second generation to lead 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 as well as an environmental technology specialist with a focus on excavation-free pipe rehabilitation, water and energy efficiency, and energy from wastewater. She is responsible for the innovative strength and internationalisation 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 was and is also active in numerous advisory and supervisory board functions.
For her commitment, she was awarded the Silver Decoration of Honour of the State of Upper Austria in 2016 and the professional title of Kommerzialrätin in 2017.
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