William and Ester Otsakorpi Foundation

The William and Ester Otsakorpi Foundation (Finnish: William ja Ester Otsakorven Säätiö) is a Finnish grant-making foundation established in Viipuri in 1928. It was created by Ester Otsakorpi following the death of her husband William Otsakorpi, who had together decided as early as 1926 to dedicate the annual profits of their Karamelli tehdas Sirius confectionery company to Karelian educational work and to establish a fund for low-interest loans to entrepreneurs and students. The foundation's charter, signed on 11 December 1928, set out its purpose: to promote and support the economic and intellectual advancement of small farmers and small-industry practitioners in Karelia, principally the Isthmus and Border Karelia, and to help local men and women access agricultural, domestic and horticultural schooling, lower and intermediate vocational schools, and professional study trips in Finland and abroad. The foundation's original endowment included five urban properties and two farms in Viipuri, the Kuokkala steam sawmill with its estates in Kivennapa, and shares in Karamelli tehdas Sirius, Kansallis-Osake-Pankki, Savo-Karjalan Osakepankki and Suomen Sokeri. In its early decades operations were modest, focused on loans to students and small entrepreneurs. The war years and the loss of Karelia, including the foundation's Viipuri properties, severely disrupted its work. Through long-term investment, however, the foundation's assets grew, and with the growth of its wealth and the introduction of state guarantees for student loans, it began awarding grants in addition to loans. Today the foundation operates in the regions of Kymenlaakso, South Karelia and North Karelia. It continues to grant loans to entrepreneurs and vocational students in its operating area, periodically awards the Otsakorpi Foundation Prize to a successful entrepreneur, and has organised quality competitions for educational institutions in its region. Its most significant activity, however, has become the awarding of grants. Grants are given to vocational institutions in its operating area — adult education centres, vocational colleges and universities of applied sciences — for projects developing teaching. For vocational students in the region, the foundation awards grants for foreign internships and exchanges, and it also grants funds to teachers for developing teaching and internationalisation. Grants total more than one million euros annually across the three provinces. The foundation is governed by a delegation (supervisory board) of twelve members and a board, plus an official. Its current delegation chair is Tomi Englund, with Professor Kai Myrberg as vice-chair. The board includes Risto Kiljunen, Eija Alhojärvi, Asko Jaakkola, Eila Piippo and Esko Torsti. The foundation maintains a website at otsakorpi.fi with sections for news, blogs, loans, grants, an online application service, awards, gallery, history, administration and contact information.

The William and Ester Otsakorpi Foundation was established in Viipuri in 1928. Its origins lie in a decision made in 1926 by William and Ester Otsakorpi to donate the annual profit of their confectionery company Karamelli tehdas Sirius — or at least 100,000 marks annually — to Karelian educational work. They had also resolved to establish a fund for granting low-interest loans to entrepreneurs and students, but did not manage to carry out the plan during William's lifetime. After her husband's death, Ester Otsakorpi founded the foundation bearing their joint name by a charter signed on 11 December 1928. According to the charter, the foundation's purpose was to promote and support the endeavours of Finnish smallholders and small-industry practitioners in Karelia, principally the Isthmus and Border Karelia, to raise their economic and intellectual standing, and for the same purpose to assist Finnish men and women originating from and living in those areas in gaining access to theoretical and vocational education in agricultural, domestic and horticultural schools, lower and intermediate vocational schools, and to prepare opportunities for those who had already received such education to undertake professional study trips both in Finland and abroad. The foundation's endowment included five urban properties and two farms in Viipuri, the Kuokkala steam sawmill with its estates in Kivennapa, and shares in Karamelli tehdas Sirius, Kansallis-Osake-Pankki, Savo-Karjalan Osakepankki and Suomen Sokeri. In its first decades the foundation's activities were small in scale. Loans were granted to students and small entrepreneurs. The war years, the loss of Karelia and with it the loss of the foundation's Viipuri properties, made its operations difficult. Through long-term investment activity, however, the foundation's wealth grew. With the growth of its assets and the introduction of state guarantees for student loans, the foundation began to award grants in addition to loans. Loans continue to be granted to entrepreneurs and vocational students in the foundation's operating area of Kymenlaakso, South Karelia and North Karelia. In addition, the foundation periodically awards the Otsakorpi Foundation Prize to a successful entrepreneur and has organised quality competitions for educational institutions in its operating area. The most significant form of activity, however, has become grants. Grants are awarded to vocational institutions in the operating area — adult education centres, vocational colleges and universities of applied sciences — for projects developing teaching. For vocational students in the region, the foundation awards grants for foreign internships and exchanges. Grants are also awarded to teachers for developing teaching and internationalisation. Grants total more than one million euros annually across the three provinces. Under its rules, the foundation has a delegation (supervisory board) and a board, plus an official. The first delegation included Mrs Ester Otsakorpi, bank director Eero Hyvärinen (chair), farmer Vilho Hyytiäinen, assessor Kauno Järvinen, merchant Lennart Karhulaakso, governor Arvo Manner, director Aleksander Parviala, director Hellä Pelkonen, municipal counsellor Enok Pusa, bank director Hannes Saarinen, deputy judge Vilho Sarkanen and professor Väinö Seiro. The first chair of the board was school counsellor Arvo Inkilä, with Ester Otsakorpi as vice-chair and property manager Jalmari Ahokas and bank director Hannes Saarinen as other members. Today the delegation has twelve members, chaired by Tomi Englund with Professor Kai Myrberg as vice-chair. Other members include Anssi Linnankivi, Antero Parkkonen, Timo Pellikka, Anneli Pirttilä, Teija Ripattila, Juha Ruskola, Lea Sairanen, Arno Seiro and Pekka Timonen. The board comprises Risto Kiljunen, Eija Alhojärvi, Asko Jaakkola, Eila Piippo and Esko Torsti.

• 1928

  Ester Otsakorpi signs the charter founding the William and Ester Otsakorpi Foundation on 11 December in Viipuri.

• 1928

  The foundation's endowment includes five urban properties and two farms in Viipuri, the Kuokkala steam sawmill, and shares in several companies.

• 1926

  William and Ester Otsakorpi decide to donate the annual profit of Karamelli tehdas Sirius to Karelian educational work and to establish a fund for low-interest loans.

• The war years and the loss of Karelia, including the foundation's Viipuri properties, disrupt its operations.

• With growing assets and state guarantees for student loans, the foundation begins awarding grants in addition to loans.

• Grants total more than one million euros annually across Kymenlaakso, South Karelia and North Karelia.

A regional Finnish grant-making foundation focused on vocational education, small entrepreneurship and Karelian cultural advancement.

• Grants for vocational education development projects

• Grants for foreign internships and exchanges for vocational students

• Grants for teacher development and internationalisation

• Low-interest loans for entrepreneurs

• Low-interest loans for vocational students

• Otsakorpi Foundation Prize

• Quality competitions for educational institutions

1. 1Otsakorpi – official websiteotsakorpi.fi
2. 2William ja Ester Otsakorven Säätiö – Wikipedia (Finnish)fi.wikipedia.org
3. 3Otsakorpi Foundation – Wikidatawikidata.org