The Einari Vidgrén Foundation has rewarded forestry professionals for the 17th time. The Einari Award, the Einari Vidgrén Foundation’s key recognition, was granted to Kalle and Hanna Pitkänen from Koneteko Pitkänen. Lifetime achievement awards were given to Esa Mikkonen and Tuomas Ramlin. The award ceremony was held in Rientola in Vieremä on 1 June. 

In addition to the main Einari Award, there are four prize categories: lifetime achievement, special recognition, operators and students. In 2022, the foundation’s awards will total EUR 167,800.

“As we received a large number of applications for all categories, selecting this year’s winners was a challenge. Selection criteria were activities carried out in the forest industry, emphasising responsible operations passed on from one generation to the next and work done in line with the principles of sustainable development.”, says Juha Vidgrén, chairman of the Einari Vidgrén Foundation.

The Einari Award

The 2022 Einari Award, the Einari Vidgrén Foundation’s key recognition, was granted to Kalle and Hanna Pitkänen from Koneteko Pitkänen. The company’s activities excellently meet the foundation’s selection criteria for 2022. In the forest industry, Koneteko Pitkänen has led the way in calculating the carbon footprint of its operations. The company’s employees have wanted to understand and learn where its most significant environmental impact comes from and, at the same time, identify what the calculation and reporting of the carbon footprint mean in practice. In addition, Koneteko Pitkänen has carried out a successful change of generation, and it has improved its profitability through subcontracting at logging sites in Germany.

Lifetime achievement awards

In recognition of their significant contribution as forest machine entrepreneurs to Finland’s forest industry, excellence in wood harvesting, and the country’s economic growth in the past, the Einari Vidgrén Foundation has issued lifetime achievement award to Esa Mikkonen and Tuomas Ramlin.

Esa Mikkonen, TM Forest Oy

“Esa Mikkonen is like a redwood tree. He has worked his whole life and career with forest machines. Mikkonen’s merits include his machine entreprenurship dating back to the 1980s and his founding membership with the Kainuu forest contractors,” Juha Vidgrén says.

Tuomas Ramlin, Konepalvelu Ramlin Oy

“Tuomas Ramlin’s solid self-confidence, combined with honesty and responsibility, has yielded results for years. Tuomas has always considered it important that everything is done on time and as well as possible. Konepalvelu Ramlin is an excellent example of how even a small company can be successful and profitable, as long as you understand the framework of contracting,” Vidgrén says.

Special recognition awards

The foundation issues annual special recognition awards to people involved in wood harvesting research and product development, industry education development, and those increasing awareness of and recognition for the industry.

Rural Professions Association
Justification: Based in North Savonia, the Rural Professions Association introduces children, young people and teachers to agriculture and forestry, and more broadly to the potential of rural areas as a working, living and business environment. Its basic activities consist of field trips to logging sites, sawmills, farms, travel companies and the sector’s educational institutions. Its goal is to attract new entrepreneurs and skilled professionals to agriculture and forestry, increase the sector’s visibility and build networks in joint communication and marketing activities. The association’s “Nuoret maalle hommiin” (Young people working in agriculture) campaign makes practical training positions and summer jobs offered in agriculture and forestry in the region of North Savonia easily available, provides coaching for employers to guarantee positive work experiences, and carries out a marketing campaign.

“Miljoonien metsä” (Forests worth millions) documentary
Justification: The “Miljoonien metsä” documentary is a story of forest ownership in Finland. As a result of the ongoing change of generation in forest ownership, forests will be owned by people who live in cities and are unfamiliar with forests. The documentary follows how major investments in the forest industry force forest owners to consider what to do with their forests and why.

Mosjøen, forest machine school
Justification: The recognition concerns the school’s student scholarships in Norway.

Lusto, forest museum
Justification: The recognition was granted for the renovation of the Lusto forest museum.

Kimmo Roininen, Stora Enso
Justification: Kimmo Roininen has developed and enhanced mechanical harvesting for more than 40 years. Roininen’s handprint can be seen clearly in the cut-to-length method and equipment that are broadly used in Finland and globally.

Keimo Lehtiniemi, freelance journalist
Justification: Keimo Lehtiniemi is a veteran freelance journalist who specialises in forests and wood procurement. Lehtiniemi has a solid understanding of the financial prerequisites of wood procurement and knows how to position them in the framework of forest- and nature-related dialogue.

Lapland’s Forestry Museum Association, organisation of an anniversary event
Justification: The association maintains the Forestry Museum of Lapland located in Rovaniemi, which tells the story of Lapland’s major logging sites from the 1870s until today. The museum area features genuine logging huts, logging tools, log driving equipment and forest machines. To celebrate its 60th anniversary, the association will organise an event for invited guests, members, stakeholders and the public.

Operator awards

The award criteria for operator awards include customer-driven, high-quality work, an unrelenting attitude when it comes to the quality of work, and good cooperation and communication with forest owners and other stakeholders. Einari had a clear idea for the operator award criteria: those operators with a high quality of work, a good attitude and good customer service skills have earned their reward.

This year, the foundation awarded 54 distinguished forest machine operators.

The operator awards were received by:

Antti Autio, Puistometsäpalvelu Oldenburg Oy

Esa Haapaniemi, Granvikin Metsätyö Oy

Harri Halmetoja, Koneurakointi S. Kuittinen Oy

Antti Hanhisuanto, Metsä-Multia Oy

Kimmo Hautamäki, Stoneman Ab

Mauno Haverinen, Hakka Oy                                       

Ilkka Heikkinen, Vieremän metsäpalvelu oy

Joonas Holck, Forest Holck Oy

Markku Hyvönen, Metsä Hyvönen Oy

Marko Iivari, Hakkuuhaukat Oy

Ville Jestoi, JsL Forest Oy

Kari Juvonen, Toropainen Oy Metsäkoneurakointi

Markku Juvonen, Veljekset Hokkanen Oy

Ilpo Kauppinen, Keski-Suomen MetsäKymppi Oy

Arto Kela, Karttulan Metsätyö Oy

Atte Keskinen, Motourakointi J. Kangas Oy

Jari Kinnunen, Metsä- ja Maansiirto Kastinen Oy

Santtu Kohvakka, Velj.Knuutinen oy

Arttu Koistinen, Karttulan Metsätyö Oy

Matti Kursukangas, Metsäurakointi Ervasti Oy

Mikko Laakkonen, Koneurakointi Lukkarinen Oy

Petri Lahtinen, Nyrölä, Metsä-Jokeri Oy

Jarmo Lehtisyrjä, Metsätyö Räisänen Oy

Ville Leppinen, MKU Panu Valden

Markus Litmanen, Metsäurakointi Piirainen Oy

Markku Luomahaara, Metsäurakointi Teräväinen Oy

Jarno Lyytikäinen, Heinäveden Koneurakointi Oy

Jukka Makkonen, Veljekset Marin Oy

Matti Mikkonen, Nilakka Forest Oy

Verneri Niva, Kylmämaan Konetyö Oy

Markku Nurminen, Puuppolan metsätyö Oy

Kimmo Oksanen, Konehonka Oy

Jyri Palojärvi, Veljekset Lehtomäki Oy

Harri Partanen, Motoajo Oy

Jarkko Pasi, SM-Korjuu Oy

Jarno Pelkonen, Metsätyö Markop Oy

Timo Peltonen, Metsäkonepalvelu Oy

Petri Penttinen, Aatto Silventoinen Oy

Pentti Pinoniemi, Veljekset Kellola Oy

Topi Pulkkinen, Nilakka Forest Oy

Matti Pulliainen, Metsä Lahikainen Ky   

Hannu Rautasalo, Keski-Suomen MetsäKymppi Oy

Heikki Ruonala, Iin Metsätyö Oy            

Roni Pekka Salmelin, Metsäkoneurakointi Hänninen

Janne Seppänen, Metsä-Kiesit Oy Mikkeli

Joonas Säämänen, TS-Metsä Oy

Tuomo Tepsa, Kone Annala Oy

Matti Timonen, Konetyö Korja Ay

Jouni Toropainen, Konepalvelu J Ikonen Oy

Antti Tupelin, Kohmansalon Metsäkuljetus Oy

Ari Vainikainen, Pata-Met Team Oy

Vesa Vauhkonen, Metsäkuljetus Matti Hänninen Ky

Arto Vierelä, Metsä Hyvönen Oy

Markku Väyrynen, Koneurakointi Huovinen & Kinnunen Oy

Student scholarships

Student scholarships are awarded to forest industry students who have performed well in their education. The foundation awarded 35 forest industry students. The scholarships were issued to the students in May at the end of the term.

The student scholarships were received by:

Etelä-Savon Koulutus Oy, Pieksämäki, Paavo Kauppinen and Olli Huusko                                     

Yrkesakademin i Österbotten, William Lång and Niko Hirviniemi        

Etelä-Savon Koulutus, ESEDU, Ville Kärkkäinen        

Ylä-Savon Koulutus, Mikkeli, Salosaari, Ida Penttinen              

Oulun seudun ammattiopisto Taivalkoski, Jimi Kaijala and Janrik Kämäräinen          

OSAO Muhos, Ville Haverinen and Eemil Karjalainen      

Tredu, Kuru, Lauri Alaspää and Reko Vastamaa                                                         

TTS Työtehoseura, Nuutti Vatanen and Ville Salonen                           

Länsirannikon Koulutus Oy WinNova, Janne Viitamäki and Juuso Jalava                                     

Riveria, Valtimo, Joona Ikonen and Vikke Korhonen                              

Gradia Jämsä, Paul-Mikael Jylhä and Elmeri Laitinen                            

SEDU, Ähtäri, Leevi Kytönen and Ville Niemenaho                                                     

Keski-Pohjanmaan koulutusyhtymä, Nestori Niskakangas and Tuukka Soukka                           

Lapin ammattiopisto REDU, Rovaniemi, Roope Mikkola

Lapin ammattiopisto REDU, Kemijärvi, Pauli Hautaniemi                   

Pohjoisen Keski-Suomen ammattiopisto, Pyry Kellokangas and Jesse Huttunen                          

Hämeen ammatti-instituutti EVO, Antti Laatikainen and Julius Pitkänen                   

Savon ammattiopisto, Pietari Porthan and Elias Hälinen                                                                 

Saimaa ammattiopisto, Ruokolahti, Antti Virolainen and Juho Jäppinen                   

Ammattiopisto Samiedu, Kasperi Pennanen

Vieremä, Finland, 1 June 2022

Einari Vidgrén Foundation
Juha Vidgrén, Chairman

Further information:

Juha Vidgrén, chairman of the board, Einari Vidgrén Foundation, +358 40 518 6286, juha.vidgren@ponsse.com