Two true Vølund ambassadors have retired
After many careful considerations, Mr. Heron Kleis and Mr. Hans Henning Rasmussen have now decided to retire from Babcock & Wilcox Vølund.
Both gentlemen have been highly dedicated employees and true Vølund ambassadors who have been rewarded with the Danish Queen’s Decoration given for Meritorious Services.
Mr. Heron Kleis
After 52 years of employment, Mr. Heron Kleis has retired from Vølund. He is one of the few people who have participated in both building waste-to-energy plants and witnessed the demolition of some of them.
A long career with drive and extensive involvement
Kleis, who is also known as “Mr. Vølund” within the business, started his career as a technical designer when the firm was located on Øresundsvej, Amager. Quickly, he became involved in sales work directly under the landowner Mr. Castenskiold who owned the Vølund corporations at that time. Later on, Kleis became head of the marketing department and through his extensive involvement in different public and private associations and committees within the industry he became very well known and has received great acknowledgment for his dedication. For instance, he was one of the founders of the DAKOFA association (The Danish Solid Waste Association) and was a committee member for several years. By and large, there is nobody within the business who does not know Kleis, and vice versa.
One of Kleis’ many achievements was the launch of term “The Danish Waste System” back in the late eighties. The Danish Waste System became an incentive for Denmark’s development and export of environmental technologies.
Kleis was also one of the main drivers behind the successful “Waste Meeting” in Copenhagen in 1995 where he managed to gather a great deal of competent and influential people within waste management and thermal treatment.
Decoration for meritorious services
The greatest acknowledgment of his long engagement with Vølund was presented him in 2001 as he received the Queen’s Decoration given for Meritorious Services, a medal decorated with a crown.
During the past few years, Kleis has worked as a consultant for the marketing department. Among other tasks, he has been the driving force behind the annual Copenhagen Environmental Festival where Vølund has participated in different ways.
Kleis is a man with the gift of the gab; he is a true master of quick remarks which means that one must be verbally well prepared in order to keep up with him. Positive, cheerful, outgoing, open, energetic and humorous are some of the words that best describe his personality.
Mr. Hans Henning Rasmussen (Ras)
After 45 years of employment, Mr. Hans Henning Rasmussen (or simply Ras) has retired from Vølund.
A varying career
In 1960, Ras began his career at K.A. Hartmann in Århus but his career with Vølund started back in 1972 when K.A. Hartmann was bought by Vølund. Ras then stayed with the new Vølund-owned company and worked as a manager in the department for oil-fired burners. In 1975, he transferred to the Esbjerg office where he was employed within controlling and commissioning of boiler plants.
Later on, he was employed in the department for heating equipment, and some years later he was appointed manager of the electrical and commissioning department. This was his job until 2003 when he, for a period of time, entrusted his job to a colleague and simultaneously took the job as manager of the facility department.
Ras has always been a trusted colleague and he is a very competent person who always gives out of his incredible knowledge in a very positive and committed way.
Words that describe him best are helpful, loyal, respected and reliable. He is always in a good mood and ready to tell a story from the "good old days at Vølund".
Decoration for meritorious services
Ras has always represented our company in a professional, obliging and reliable way - he has certainly been a true Vølund ambassador. Ras received the Queen’s Decoration given for Meritorious Services on the 4 November 2005.
