Internationalisation Award granted to Kuusakoski Group

Sauli Niinistö, President of the Republic of Finland, has granted today the annual internationalisation award to successful Finnish companies. Kuusakoski Group was awarded as Growth Company of 2023.

Kuusakoski Group is a family-owned company founded in 1914. The Group consists of Kuusakoski Oy, a recycling business, and Alteams Oy, a foundry business, and the majority of its turnover comes from exports and international subsidiaries. The separate green transition investment programme launched in autumn 2022 is a concrete example of the company's ambition to be a responsible leader in the circular economy. Each year, the company supplies more than one million tonnes of recycled materials and products, including recycled metals, as raw materials for the manufacturing industry.

“Kuusakoski has grown throughout the period of industrialisation in Finland after the wars, and strong internationalisation in the following decades also helped us grow. Now the driver for growth is our customers' increased need for low-carbon raw materials. I am particularly proud of our consistent product development and investments in cutting-edge technological know-how throughout our company's 110-year history,” says Veikko Kuusakoski, CEO of Kuusakoski Group.

Sustainability and societal impact important factors in the selection process

The Internationalisation Award of the President of the Republic of Finland is bestowed annually in recognition of internationally successful companies or communities. Particular attention is paid to competitiveness, the international nature of the business and profitability. In addition, the evaluation emphasizes the ethical nature of operations, the impact on the development of Finnish competence and employment, as well as foreign investments and the promotion of Finland's innovation ecosystem. The companies' backgrounds are determined through the same Know Your Customer process through which financial institutions and other operators identify and know their customers as well as the quality and scope of their activities.

In addition to Kuusakoski Group, the Internationalisation Award was granted this year to Neural DSP Technologies (Newcomer Company), AGCO Group (Long-term International Investor) and EnergyVaasa (Community Award).

“The awarded companies demonstrate in an excellent way the importance of continuous innovation both in terms of competitive advantage, internationalisation and sustainable development. In addition to international success, the evaluation emphasized green transition and sustainable development”, says Ilona Lundström, Chairman of the Team Finland Executive Group and Director-General at the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment.

Nominations were proposed by various business organisations. The final award recipients were proposed to the president by the actors of the Team Finland network, Business Finland, ELY centres (Centres for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment), Finnvera, and the Ministry for Foreign Affairs.