"I want to give something back to my new home"

At the end of May, the General Assembly of House of Winterthur elected Beat Schwab as the new Chairman of House of Winterthur. Beat Schwab has been an independent member of the Board of Directors and Board of Trustees since 2017 and is Chairman of Zug Estates Holding AG, Raiffeisenbank Winterthur Genossenschaft and Terresta Immobilien-und Verwaltungs AG, Winterthur, among others. We take a closer look at the Basel native in a brief interview and want to know what he wants to achieve in his new position.

Where does your motivation for the honorary position of club president come from?
When I came to Winterthur from Basel in 2006, I immediately felt very much at home and sensed the spirit of optimism. Now I want to give something back to my new home and contribute to qualitative growth.  

What would you like to achieve as president of the House of Winterthur association?
Winterthur is unfortunately still somewhat underestimated in Switzerland, and I would like to showcase our strengths even better. My aim is for all stakeholders from politics, municipalities, companies, culture, education and business associations to pull together for the benefit of the Winterthur region. House of Winterthur should be the central coordination point for all issues relating to the promotion of the Winterthur region and contribute to networking among the members in order to create synergies and facilitate successful cooperation.

Where do you see potential for Winterthur as a location and where do you see the biggest challenges?
With the Smart Health, Smart Machines and Smart Energy cluster initiatives, we are focusing specifically on our strengths. In doing so, we are demonstrating Winterthur's attractiveness for companies and as a place to work and live with short distances and recreational areas on the doorstep. In tourism, we are positioning ourselves as an attractive city destination with a high and diverse density of museums, a homogeneous old town and exciting area developments. One challenge is certainly that there are cantons and cities with better tax conditions for companies. But I am convinced that we can more than compensate for this with our strengths.

What do you associate with Winterthur?
Winti is actually already a 15-minute city: strolling in the old town, immersing yourself in the startup community at the Technopark or the Home of Innovation, comedy at the Casinotheater, further education at the ZHAW or jogging in the forest: this variety can be reached in a very short time and is unique in Switzerland.

What is your favorite place in Winterthur?
My favorite place is Steinberggasse: beautiful old town houses, modern-classic Judd fountains and a great variety of restaurants and businesses.

Interview: Linda Stratacò, June 2023