Zürich, November 2, 2009

Sonja Wollkopf Walt appointed new CEO of the Greater Zurich Area AG

Sonja Wollkopf Walt has been appointed new CEO of the location marketing organization Greater Zurich Area AG. Effective January 1, 2010, she will succeed Willi Meier, who will retire at his own request by the end of 2009.

Sonja Wollkopf Walt holds a legal degree and boasts in-depth professional training and profound experience in marketing and coaching. Having started her professional career as a consultant for PricewaterhouseCoopers, she joined the Greater Zurich Area AG in 1999. During the first years she served the organization as project manager and director of marketing responsible for various accounts while developing the key markets of Europe and the USA. In October 2002 she joined the management team and has since been in charge of overall operations.

In recent years, the Greater Zurich Area AG has successfully raised the international profile and emphasized the advantages of the business location Greater Zurich Area. As a result of those efforts, numerous companies hailing from Europe, the U.S. and Asia have chosen the Greater Zurich Area as the location from where to run important EMEA and global operations. Multinational corporations such as Ecolab, Google, John Deere, Degussa, Kraft Foods, Microsoft, Red Herring, and Vistaprint have holding functions, manage their intellectual property, finance and supply chain, or carry out R&D in the Greater Zurich Area. Many more small and medium-size companies in growth industries such as information technology, precision engineering and life sciences rely on the Greater Zurich Area as their location of choice as well.

According to Hans Peter Wehrli, Chairman of the Greater Zurich Area AG’s board of directors, Sonja Wollkopf Walt ideally combines the requirements necessary to take the Greater Zurich Area’s international location marketing efforts into a bright future: «Sonja commands highly sophisticated skills in international expansion and relocation projects and marketing along with an extensive list of well-established local and global contacts.»

In recognition of the achievements of Willi Meier, Hans Peter Wehrli said: «During eight years at the helm of the Greater Zurich Area AG, Willi Meier has made significant contributions to the establishment and the development of the organization. He has managed to integrate the different objectives and diverse requirements of by now eight member cantons and two member cities, and thus successfully promoted our business location internationally under the shared brand of the Greater Zurich Area.»

About the Greater Zurich Area AG
The Greater Zurich Area AG, a nonprofit organization, is the location marketing organization for the Greater Zurich Area business region. It recruits international companies abroad and assists them in setting up companies and making investments in the Greater Zurich Area. Its sponsor is the «Stiftung Greater Zurich Area Standortmarketing», a public-private partnership that was established in November 1998. Since that time, its membership has grown to include the cantons of Aargau, Glarus, Graubünden, Schaffhausen, Schwyz, Solothurn, Zug and Zurich, the cities of Zurich and Winterthur, and several Swiss companies.
www.greaterzuricharea.ch

Contacts for media inquiries
Claudia Magri, Head of Communications, Greater Zurich Area AG, Zürich
Tel.: +41 44 254 5907, claudia.magri(at)greaterzuricharea.ch

Marc Neumann, International Media Relations, Greater Zurich Area AG
Tel: +1 212 427 7185, marc.neumann(st)greaterzuricharea.ch

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