Entrepreneur of the year, thanks to dad

Martin Hrdlička is a bit worried about how he will be portrayed in the press - a holdout, he explains, from the negative connotations that used to be associated with independent businesspeople following the Velvet Revolution.

Amid the rampant corruption and tunneling that accompanied privatization, an entrepreneurial spirit could raise eyebrows and invite unfair accusations, he said.

"In the early '90s, if you owned a private company, people were suspicious that you could be a criminal," he said, "It wasn't yet clear who was who."

But two decades later, it's clear Hrdlička's company and reputation are well respected. On Feb. 21, Hrdlička was named Entrepreneur of the Year for the Prague and central Bohemian region, an annual honor awarded by Ernst & Young for the past 12 years.

In 1990, he founded Hrdlička s.r.o., a firm that specializes in land surveying and geodesy, the field of earth sciences that focuses on the measurement and representation of the earth. The discipline was a family tradition even before the revolution, when private companies were impossible under the communist regime. His father, Miroslav, began studying surveying in 1953 and began training and employing a teenaged Hrdlička in the 1970s, so the pair was more than ready to start a business when they were finally allowed to.

Today, the Hrdlička group comprises five companies, including Hrdlička s.r.o., GIS Service Prague, Hrdlička Slovakia, Hrdlička Hungaria and Geodata Bulgaria. The group counts among its clients the city of Prague, municipalities, construction companies and utility companies.

Hrdlička said he is surprised and honored by the award, for which he was nominated, unknown to him, by a colleague. He said he takes the award as recognition for his colleagues, as well.

"I'm very happy, not just for me, but also for my father. He is 81 years old, and he still works for our company," he said. "When we started in 1990, he was 60 years old, and under socialism it wasn't possible for him to have his own company, so he was very happy when he finally could. This prize is also for my colleagues; some of them have worked at the company for 18, 19 years."

Claire Compton can be reached at
ccompton@praguepost.com