Edifying Edgars

Affectionately known as the Edgars, each year the American Chamber of Commerce in Poland, or AmCham, hands out awards to American companies in Poland that have distinguished themselves by their outstanding business activity throughout the year. As always, this year's edition - the AmCham's fourth - awarded companies in three categories: Entrepreneur of the Year; Excellence in Innovation; and Investor of the Year.

The Entrepreneur of the Year award for 2006 was won by US Pharmacia, which distributes over-the-counter (OTC) drug brands such as Apap, Ibuprom and Stoperan. Bogdan Lang picked up the trophy. From its first days of distributing OTC drugs in 1991, the company has grown into a $130 (zł.374) million business. It is now first on the Polish OTC market, and fifth on the European market.

The winner of the Excellence in Innovation Award was X-press Couriers, Poland's first bicycle-courier company. On the market for 10 years, the company now employs 150 people in several Polish cities, including Warsaw, Kraków, Szczecin, Poznań, and Wrocław, and plans to expand into several other cities. X-press Couriers was singled out for its innovative tracking system, which uses GPS technology to track packages, and Adam Tomczyk was there on the night.

AmCham's Investor of the Year for 2006 was Pratt & Whitney. The aircraft-engine producer has invested significantly in Rzeszów, where it builds engines used in the F-16 fighters recently acquired by the Polish army. Alon Redlich collected the prize.

AmCham's executive director, Dorota Dąbrowska, em-ceed the event, and the Chief of Mission at the American Embassy, Kenneth Hillas, as well as the president of AmCham's board of directors, Roman Rewald handed out the awards.