Jaap den Ouden Wins IRO Award of Excellence 2009
Jaap den Ouden, founder and co-owner of Mercon, received the IRO Award of Excellence 2009 during the IRO (Association of Dutch Suppliers in the Oil & Gas Industry) Annual General Meeting on Tuesday 17 November 2009 at Damen Shiprepair Rotterdam in Schiedam, the Netherlands.
The jury praised Jaap for his entrepreneurship in making Mercon an international top player in the field of offshore steel structures, bridges, locks and oil and gas storage. When Nederhorst Staal went bankrupt, he made a new start in 1976, along with Rob Lubbers of Hollandia, Jaap de Groot of Grootint and the Ministry of Economic Affairs, as founder, shareholder and co-director of Mercon in Gorinchem. He is now member of the Supervisory Board.
It was a huge surprise for Jaap den Ouden that the jury chose him to be the winner. Jaap thinks that the strength of Mercon lies in the knowledge of the product, the organization and professionalism to accomplish complex projects in a short time and the budget that stands for it. “What you need is plans, dreams and vision and the ability to communicate this to your people, to enthuse them and particularly to enjoy the success that they create. This is one of the main characteristics of a manager, to enjoy the success of the people who actually deliver.”
The IRO Award of Excellence is presented twice per five years to a person involved in the oil and gas industry in the development of an industrial activity or product/application, who has been innovative, excels in business, is commercially successful and dared to enter ‘new territories’ or someone who has done much in terms of safety and environment.
Together with Jaap den Ouden, also Goof Hamers – CEO of IHC Merwede – and Jan Vugts, former professor at the Technical University Delft, Offshore Engineering department were nominated for the IRO Award of Excellence 2009.