In Hoogeveen, Henk Koster was best known as the founder of the Venko painting company. The sports world knows him as the owner of the Venko Motcrossteam, where many Dutch top drivers were released for years. Henk Koster died last Wednesday at the age of 80.
In the nineties you see them driving almost everywhere in the country, the white vans of Venko. Koster once took the brush without diplomas. He then started working for himself and built up a company that was active everywhere in the country. “Koster was not made for a little one,” says the Hoogeveense historian Albert Metselaar. Everything that had to be painted, that could be his company. Up to and including large masts. “
“But Koster was also socially involved. He was one of the initiators of the Hoogevener of the Year title,” continues Metselaar. Remarkably, he was also the first winner of the prize. A year later, that prize went to Metselaar himself, who had good memories of Koster there.
“As a Hoogevener of the year, you received an amount of 500 guilders that you had to spend on a charity at the time. I used it for the arrival of a monument for the victims of the Second World War in Hollandscheveld,” the historian continues. “In addition, I received an envelope from Kosters, for myself. At that time I bought my first computer from that, a word processor.”
“Henk was a real Drent who only spoke to Drents,” remembers former enginecrosser and Grand Prix winner Gerrit Wolsink. And with that he came around the world. Great how he built his painting company. “
In addition to working, Koster rode Enduro in his spare time. When he saw Klaas Hoogland riding over a cross track, he decided to step into the motocross. In the early 1980s he was asked by the KNMV and Wolsink to sponsor the team for the 6-day 1984, which would be held in Assen.
Wolsink was at that time in the aftermath of his career. “We won in Assen, became world champions. He also participated in a team with enthusiasts. He managed to reach the finish, a great achievement. In addition, he also had a successful cross team with Dave Strijbos and Gert-Jan at the time van Doorn.
“Koster has never obtained a school diploma, he was a self -made man,” Wolsink looks back. “But he was also a marketing genius. He did not interfere with the team, but took business relationships with him. He did that all over the world. Koster was already working with sponsorship in the 1980s .