Safely Upwards With ALVE
POSITIV 2/2021 21
BUSINESS
around 2000 are still here. And we are so lucky that
the situation is very similar in our branches in Slovakia
and Romania, as well.
You are not a large company, you are located in
Veřovice. You are a woman leading the company,
which is also not typical as you mentioned. This is
a very interesting story.
When the owners established the company, they
were looking for some premises. And one of the
owners is from Veřovice and he found these premises
of a former co-operative farm that had just been
privatized. So the company was established by taking
a loan and buying agricultural ruins. These were
gradually rebuilt based on the profits. And this may
also be one of the reasons of our success. The owners
of ALVE have always said ‘let’s build only as much as
we can afford’. Due to that, we didn’t have as quick
an expansion as our competitors, but it was much
safer. There are other similar companies in our region,
Czech companies that grew on Czech capital, Czech
people, and we should be proud of that. We are the
core that employs a large quantity of people; we pay
taxes in the Czech Republic. And we try to use Czech
suppliers as much as possible, especially Moravian
ones.
What place in the region would you recommend to
a foreign visitor?
Veřovice! (laughing) Veřovice and the Beskid
Mountains - you can see Javorník behind you--one of
the owners of ALVE is from Veřovice and he supported
the construction of an observation tower on Javorník.
Mrs Mervaldová, thank you for the interview.