Mette Neville - Hero of the year

This was part of the Jury’s rationale for awarding Mette Neville the  Prize "Hero of the Year" at an annual award ceremony for the "Owner manager of the Year," a prize awarded by PWC, Nykredit & Dansk Erhverv for the past 20 years.

SMEs make up over 99% of Danish business enterprises, and 82% of them are owner-managed. They are the ones who, with creativity, courage, determination and a willingness to take risks, create the companies that form the backbone of the Danish economy.

The Jury’s reasoning continues by highlighting that Mette, through her work over many years, has managed to focus on generating new knowledge and new tools for areas such as leadership, board work, business operations, business development, digital transformation, and innovation in SMVs.

She is a hero whose work, commitment, and enthusiasm have had a significant impact on many SMEs, not just in East Jutland but throughout Denmark. She is a modest value creator who contributes with extensive knowledge and scientific expertise about and for small and medium-sized enterprises.

The award as Hero of the Year to Mette and the Centre for SME (CeSME) shows that a strong partnership between researchers and the business community can make a difference. By having so many SMEs entrusting us with access to their inner workings, we can together identify challenges and create the knowledge and tools that can support growth and development in SMEs. In this way, we have created - and will continue to create - 'knowledge that works'!

The award was personal, but new knowledge and tools are not created alone. It requires a strong team in the Centre for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises and at BSS and a collaboration with external partners. And we have strong external partners - for example, Gejst Studio and 360° Sprint, who have been partners on the last two projects. In fact, it was a major project in collaboration with PwC Denmark and Nykredit back in 2013 that laid the foundation stone for the centre.