DATRON AG, a South Hessian company specializing in machine construction, regularly supports refugees from the region. Companies and new residents clearly both benefit from dedicated employees such as Johannes Stork, and this not only relates to the intercultural exchange.

“Aaron has become very dear to me,” says Johannes Stork, Facility Manager at DATRON AG. Since December 2015, Aaron Arefe Mesegna, a young man from Eritrea, supports the Facility Management and Catering teams at DATRON’s headquarters in Mühltal-Traisa. “I appreciate Aaron as an attentive, hardworking young man with many ideas, which he  makes happen reliably in a short time,” says Stork. The 20-year-old Aaron accompanies him on the extensive premises with seven commercial buildings and automatically meets staff from all kinds of company departments. This helps Aaron Arefe Mesegna not only to gain experience, but also to learn the German language very quickly.

New Perspectives: for DATRON and for the Refugees
In return, an already international company like DATRON benefits greatly from this intercultural exchange. “We consider it to be our social responsibility to do our part for local integration. Offering jobs creates future perspectives, not only for refugees but also for DATRON, the economy and the region,” explains CEO Dr. Arne Brüsch. In cooperation with the “Netzwerk Asyl” (Network Asylum) in Mühltal, DATRON has already implemented several projects and more are planned. For Aaron Arefe Mesegna, however, a committed citizen appealed to DATRON’s CEO and there was immediate contact. “I live in Mühltal-Traisa and know the area. And I thought for a long time: I would really like to work at this company,” is how Aaron Arefe Mesegna describes his entry into the machine construction company from Mühltal. Facility manager Johannes Stork has great fun introducing him into the DATRON world. No wonder: he also works privately with three refugees with whom, for example, he is planting trees in the Traisa forest. “Thus they see how something you created yourself grows and prospers,” says Stork.