Zug,17.01.2017

Kantonalbank to offer CHF 500,000 in prizes for bright ideas for the canton

As 2017 marks the 125th anniversary of the founding of the Zuger Kantonalbank, it has been decided to celebrate it by launching its “Ideas for Zug” competition, in which prizes amounting to CHF 500,000 will be able to be won.
 
As Pascale Niquille (photograph), the chairman of the bank, explained, the institution considers itself co-responsible for a canton where it feels good to work and live, hence the search for ideas for something sustainable and of benefit to canton by means of this competition.
 
Individuals or groups of people have until the end of June to submit their creative ideas. What is essential is that they should be of a sustainable nature and generate a tangible effect on the canton and its population. As Niquille himself said, those having an effect on a broader section of the population stand more chance of winning than those of a more commercial nature.
 
All ideas submitted by Friday 30 June will be able to be seen on a special jubilee website, namely www.zugerkb.ch/125-jahre/projektwettbewerb, with everyone then able to consider and evaluate them before voting for the ones they like. Thereafter, a jury consisting of Sister Anna Nerlich, the superior of the Maria Opferung Convent, Peter Niederberger, the head of marketing at the Zug Tourist Board, Pascal Niquille, the afore-mentioned chairman of the Zuger Kantonalbank, Hans-Peter Strebel, the chairman of the EVZ ice-hockey club, Andreas Umbach, the chairman of the Zug Chamber of Commerce, Manuela Weichelt-Picard, the head of the cantonal government, and Harry Ziegler, the editor of the Zuger Zeitung, will decide on the winning entries, while taking into account the public vote, and determine who is to get the ten prizes of CHF 50,000 each, though the total CHF 500,000 could be divided up in a different way if the jury thought fit.
 
Experience in the canton of St Gallen has shown that there is no shortage of good ideas among the population, with locals there suggesting a tree-top walkway and a new home for scouts, among others.
 
The winners of the Zuger Kantonalbank's competition will be announced by the middle of September with the winning entries featuring at the bank’s stand at the Zug Fair at the end of October.
 
Whatever the winning ideas are, they are expected to be able to be implemented over the course of 2018.
Some entries already submitted include a speed-dating meeting-place for old-age-pensioners and a pillow-fight arena.
 
This competition is just one of a number of ways in which the bank is celebrating this special anniversary year, with all customers being sent sets of postcards over the next few days, informing them about all other activities in connection with this jubilee year. “Anyone who is not a customer is most welcome to collect a set of postcards from the bank, too,” added Niquille. “After all, we want to celebrate this special year with everyone.”
 
In another celebratory gesture, the bank is organising a draw, offering 125 packages for entry for standing places for up to four persons, including refreshments, to be able to watch EHC Biel play against EVZ on Saturday 25 February. This has been organised especially as the Zuger Kantonalbank sponsors the EVZ, which is also celebrating a jubilee this year. Other draws will enable winners to go on card-playing cruises on Lake Zug as well as attend events put on by the Zug Theatre and Music Society. A major fireworks display is also planned for the summer. As if all this were not enough, another major project is also being planned, but details about this will only be announced later.
 
The Zuger Kantonalbank, in cooperation with the Zug Police, has also made a short advert about the competition. In this short film, which can be seen on zugerzeitung.ch/video, a police officer asks a man for his ID, but understands “idea” instead, and begins to expound on his suggestion for the competition.