“Today, we witnessed the future of the industry – and as wego-vti, we are proud to support this development!” With these words, Alfons Horn, Chairman of the Management Board, commented on the award ceremony for the “Fit-out Heroes.” wego-vti served as the main sponsor for this competition, held for the 12th time on November 15, 2024, at the Hamm Training Center.

The organizer of the “Fit-out Hero” junior championship for drywall installers is the German Construction Industry Federation. The six finalists at the Hamm Training Center spent the day working on various technical execution tasks, demonstrating their creativity and skill. “Drywall construction is more than just building walls. It is a challenge,” explained keynote speaker Danijel Lucic from co-sponsor Saint Gobain Rigips at the award ceremony in the Hamm Training Center.
Jonas Weber (Innenausbau Weber GmbH) was crowned Fit-out Hero 2024 and thus the reigning German Champion of Drywall Installers. Florian Noack (Trockenbau Wäntig GmbH) secured second place, followed by Leonard Sobotta (Heinrich Schmid GmbH & Co. KG) in third place. Fourth place was shared by Yannick Sander (JAEGER Ausbau GmbH & Co. KG), Duc Luong Tran (Peter Ausbau GmbH), and Raphael Rackerseder (Baierl & Demmelhuber Innenausbau GmbH).

Alfons Horn presented the winner, Jonas Weber, with an education voucher for the Certified Master in Interior Construction and Drywall course, valued at €11,500. Florian Noack, in second place, and Leonard Sobotta, in third, received education vouchers for their master craftsman courses worth €5,750 and €2,875, respectively. “As a leading specialist dealer and multi-specialist for interior construction, flooring systems, ceilings, and technical insulation, education and training are the foundation of our daily operations,” explains Alfons Horn, detailing his company’s motivation for the sponsorship. “We view specialist expertise as a differentiating factor, and we train and develop our staff – at a time when others are cutting personnel. The necessary competence in interior construction and energy efficiency can only be achieved through further training – because in a market with low entry barriers, successful specialist contractors must differentiate themselves. In this respect, taking on the exclusive sponsorship was both an honor and a commitment for us – for an interior construction sector that will be even better trained in the future.”

At wego-vti, the situation regarding young talent in the industry is viewed with concern. Alfons Horn states: “While in 2023, according to the ZDH, over 15,000 apprentices aspired to become painters/varnishers, in many interior construction professions, apprentices can be counted in dozens.” Precisely because industrial construction and standardized building solutions are absolutely essential to achieve the 400,000 units demanded by the federal government, interior construction plays a significant role in achieving these goals. This is particularly true because standardization and functional interior construction go “hand in hand” with achieving high residential and project value. “Interior construction contributes to both economical AND high-quality living space, but for that, we need to train more people than we do today!”

For Alfons Horn and his company, education and training are not cost drivers but necessary prerequisites for successful collaboration in the market, especially in an aging society: “As wego vti, we consistently have between 6% and 10% of our workforce in training. We seek contact with our specialist contractor customers through programs like ‘Trade Meets Craft,’ to foster the exchange of our apprentices. We recruit young talent in trade through social media and influencers – and support initiatives like Ausbauheld e.V. to promote this for their craft as well.”