diff --git a/poi-util/src/main/java/de/muehlencord/shared/poi/PoiUtil.java b/poi-util/src/main/java/de/muehlencord/shared/poi/PoiUtil.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1898de4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/poi-util/src/main/java/de/muehlencord/shared/poi/PoiUtil.java
@@ -0,0 +1,44 @@
+/* 
+ * Copyright 2019 Joern Muehlencord (joern (at) muehlencord.de)
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *      http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+package de.muehlencord.shared.poi;
+
+import org.apache.poi.ss.usermodel.Cell;
+import org.apache.poi.ss.usermodel.CellType;
+
+/**
+ *
+ * @author Joern Muehlencord (joern (at) muehlencord.de)
+ */
+public abstract class PoiUtil {
+
+    private PoiUtil() {
+        // hide constructor of abstract classes
+    }
+    
+    public static boolean cellEmpty(Cell cell) {
+        if (cell == null)
+            return true;
+        if (cell.getCellType() == CellType.BLANK)
+            return true;
+        if (cell.getCellType() == CellType.STRING) {
+            return cell.getStringCellValue().equals ("");
+        }
+        return false;           
+    }
+    
+    
+    
+}