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Ari Koskivaara, an alum and donor of the School of Business, was born and has lived his entire life in Helsinki. ‘I attended high school at Helsingin Lyseo (Ressu) and graduated in the spring of 1964. During high school and subsequent summers, I worked at Helsingin Osuuskauppa, Kesko's warehouse, and in Northern Germany and Austria. I gained valuable work experience from all of them!’

After high school, Ari Koskivaara went to the army, where he attended the Reserve Officer School course 118. ‘I was active and participated in organizing various leisure activities. A year later, in 1965, I started my one-year studies at the Business College Helsinki, which was a good school. In the business college, I wanted to focus on my studies to earn the necessary points to get into the Helsinki School of Economics.’

Ari had his first encounter with the Helsinki School of Economics unexpectedly while walking his dog on Runeberginkatu. Two students who were participating in ‘mursujaiset’, a freshman initiation ritual, approached him and asked to borrow his dog. ‘I agreed, and my dog and I ended up on the stage of the school's auditorium while the audience cheered - thanks to my dog, these students won the initiation challenge. The experience was so inspiring that it partly motivated me to apply to the Helsinki School of Economics, where I started my studies in 1966.’

‘During my time at the Helsinki School of Economics, I was involved in various activities organized by KY (the student association), where we formed enjoyable groups. I participated, among other things, in the program committee, which organized social events. As part of one of the events, we came up with the idea of organizing 'ugly ice skating' as a counterbalance to figure skating. I was also a member of the KY representative council and served on two different KY boards.’

The highlight was undoubtedly the FINNFOCUS export exhibition in October 1968. ‘At that time, 150 business students, including me, organized a 'floating export trade show.' The export trade show featured 140 Finnish exhibitors who either aimed to enter the British market or strengthen their presence there. We obtained the car ferry M/S Finnpartner from Amer to sail on the River Thames near Tower Bridge.’

Ari Koskivaara served as the communications secretary for KY during the academic year 1969-1970.

From a receptionist to an export manager

During the summer of 1968, the Ruusulankatu dormitory transformed into a summer hotel called Mercur, where Ari Koskivaara worked as a doorman. ‘In that role, my language skills also improved. I gained my first longer work experience at Forsman's stone carving workshop, which was owned by my family.’

In June 1970, he started working as an export manager at Oy Farmer Ab, the export organization for agricultural and forestry machinery manufacturers, which was a subsidiary of the central cooperative Hankkija. After a few years, he became the CEO of the company. ‘Exactly 40 years later, I retired from the same company. After Hankkija's owner, Novera, went bankrupt in 1992, our staff bought out Farmer. I became the majority owner of Farmer. Farmer ceased its operations in 2014 when manufacturers started handling their own export activities.’

Enjoyable alumni activities and greetings to the School of Business

Ari Koskivaara is from the class of '66 at the School of Business. The class gathers informally once or twice a year at the Musiikkitalo concert hall. ‘The tradition is enjoyable, but even more meaningful are the smaller groups that formed during our studies. ‘Rupusakki’ is our group of six couples, and we celebrate May Day together, among other things.’

The football association was and still is important. ‘EKOKY-08, the football team of the association, was established in the spring of 1968, but we intentionally named it -08 so that we could celebrate the association's 60th anniversary already after the first year of operation.’ The association is still active. ‘Nowadays, we have one meeting with snow and one meeting without snow during the year, and football boots are not needed for either. The team includes alumni from different class years.’

‘For today's School of Business, I wish all the best, and that's why I also wanted to support the school through donations. I would like to emphasize the importance of holding on to physical classrooms and spaces. Genuine interaction among students happens there, smoothly alongside studies. Knowledge becomes outdated, unlike friendship.’

Editorial team: Terhi Ollikainen, Jonna Söderholm and Fiona Jokivuolle