The Textile Shoes Leather Goods Trade Association (BTE) has found a successor for the previous president Steffen Jost.
On Wednesday, Mark Rauschen, managing partner of the Osnabrück fashion house L&T Lengermann & Trieschmann, was unanimously elected as the new BTE President by the BTE delegate assembly, the trade association announced.
The outgoing President Jost had been President of the BTE since 2007 and also represented the textile, shoe and leather goods trade on the board of the HDE German Trade Association. The managing partner of the fashion house Jost announced his resignation in June. He will step down from office in the middle of the electoral term and will then gradually withdraw from operational business. For his services, Jost was appointed BTE honorary president by the BTE delegate assembly.
It was already clear in June that Rauschen would be running for office, and now his new position is official. The election comes at a time of great challenges for the textile, shoe and leather goods trade and the new president must deal with numerous topics and problems together with the BTE management. The focus is particularly on the preservation of inner cities, the promotion of projects to improve economic processes and tasks, the creation of business-friendly and job-preserving framework conditions as well as sensible measures on the way to more sustainability in the industry, according to the release.
In addition to Rauschen, a new vice president was also elected for the association. Tatjana Steinbrenner, managing partner of the Bensheim department store Ernst Ganz, takes on this task. BTE Vice President Andreas Bartmann from Globetrotter Equipment, Hamburg, will continue to work in his role.