B04 Business Support Services in Hanse Passage regions

Transcription

1 B04 Business Support Services in Hanse Passage regions BUILDING NETWORKS AND EXCHANGING EXPERIENCE BETWEEN EUROPEAN REGIONS

2 Introduction Creating the right environment for businesses to flourish is a central element in public policy for promoting enterprise and entrepreneurship. Having the right conditions is crucially important for the survival and growth of businesses and creating these conditions is an area where there is still room for considerable further improvement. Traditionally, a range of financial measures has always been considered an important aspect of regional business support. These have included direct grants, subsidized loans, loan guarantees and increasingly initiatives to make venture capital more readily available. In addition, there has been support in the form of specialized types of training and in the direct provision of services offering information, advice and various kinds of practical assistance. This type of policy measure is referred to as the provision of business support services. Businesses typically make use of support services at critical stages of their development. The provision of information and advice that forms the core service of most support organisations, is particularly important when an enterprise is starting up and at sensitive stages of subsequent development, such as when growth opportunities or problems present themselves. The project Business support services in Hanse Passage regions was one of the 23 subprojects realized under Interreg IIIC Hanse Passage RFO. It ran from May 2005 to June 2007, and brought together partners from 7 regions from 6 Hanse Passage countries:poland, Germany, Latvia, the United Kingdom, France and the Netherlands. The project was led by Association Free Entrepreneurship, Regional Office Gdansk in collaboration with such partners as: Office of the Marshal of the Pomorskie Voivodeship, the Latvian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), Haute Normandie International Chambre Régionale de Commerce Et d' Industrie (HNI), Wirtschafts- und TourismusFördergesellschaft Kreis Peine (WTLP), The West Yorkshire Enterprise Partnership Ltd (WYEP), Province of Drenthe, Avacon (Groningen), Urania (Groningen). All the partners involved are experts in business support development and delivery. They also contribute to regional policy development. Project's objectives All researchers involved in the project analysed very time specific and geographically determined patterns and events in order to offer indicators for new forms of interregional co-operation on economic development. In their research the participants were obliged to pose new questions and relate to key-words like innovation, adaptation, integration, diversification, communication, risk-reduction, networking, monitoring and learning, standardisation, centralisation and plural identities. They also had to focus on the dynamics of time and the sequence of changes in trading conditions and political circumstances. In doing so, they opposed the traditional view on the Hanseatic League as a static, hierarchical, and in many ways conservative umbrella, unable to adapt to new market policies and economic change. In fact, all the researchers went into the pros and cons of a network based on weak bonds from very 2

3 different perspectives, and thus adhered to the current discussion on both the main characteristics of the League and the developments within modern European regions. study visit to Groningen in March 2006 Another very important part of the Business Support Services project were study visits. They played a crucial role in creating an environment and sustainable resources that will enable future collaboration between the Hanse Passage regions. During the kick-off meeting the partners decided to organise 4 study visits in: Groningen / Drenthe (March 2006), Peine, (Lower Saxony, May 2006), Rouen (Haute-Normandie, June 2006), Gdansk (Pomorskie, September 2006). After participation in these study visits the partners' representatives have been more aware of what is happening in other Hanse Passage regions, and what the differences and similarities between the regions are. Mutually advantageous proved the idea to combine a kick-off and final conferences of the project (in Gdansk and Riga respectively) with those organized in another Hanse Passage subproject Exchange to Export. It brought a synergy, especially to the partners participating in both projects. Conclusions and recommendations of the comparative analysis Services for entrepreneurship are meant to support business operation in different aspects of economic activity. In all partner regions, those services are predominantly important to the SME sector characterized by insufficient skills and knowledge among entrepreneurs on how to run a business. Services offered by professional firms enhance effectiveness of enterprises and play an important role in economic processes. Even though each country differs from the others in terms of socio-economic and political context, all reports share the conclusion that the development of the services sector deserves rational and systematic attention. 3

4 The system of support services in regions involved in this report is fairly highly developed, with the exception of Kurzeme region, in which the public support system practically doesn't exist yet. All regions have a large supply of business supporting services covering nearly every kind of consultancy service in demand. But it is a common experience that many SMEs as well as start-up entrepreneurs do not make use of these services. This is mainly caused by lack of awareness regarding the existence and capacity of support services. Thus, the relatively low participation in support services might also be connected to the limited availability of information on services offered. Consequently, raising awareness and improvement of the visible presence of services is one of the major challenges of support policy. All regions report a high potential demand for support services. It results from two main premises. Firstly, there is a very large group composed of companies that declare high demand for services and find them useful. Secondly, there is a group of companies that have already benefited from these services and value them highly. Both groups are potential customers for support services. Although there is no significant gap between the needs of SMEs and the actual support services, there is a serious anxiety that potential demand will not be fulfilled. In all regions, the supply side of the market for support services has undergone a rapid expansion during the last few years, offering a wide array of services to businesses. However, businesses still seem to make rather little use of the services offered. Entrepreneurs prefer specialised services. Therefore, this feature should be strengthened. Moreover, the majority of enterprises show a strong need for customised services, which take into account their specific size, class, phase of development or field of activity. It was concluded that in order to maximise the efficiency, the services and programmes should be closely defined with business organisations. Co-operation should reinforce stability and coordination of support system. The comparative analysis shows that at present, a large number of different institutions deliver more or less the same type of activities to improve the social-economic structure of the region by offering advice and other forms of support to SME's. It was concluded that public intervention in the field of business support services should be coherent and rationalized in order to avoid overlapping and waste of public resources. The entrepreneur and company should be placed at the center of any policy or programme. In some of the partner countries, the biggest challenge for national, regional and local authorities is to remove overlaps between supporting organizations and force them to co-operate. 4

5 Business support organizations also face major challenges related to adapting their services to the changing needs of SMEs by developing knowledge economy. Creation of a computer network connecting business environment institutions to support these institutions seems a necessary solution. A good practice on this case is an initiative of the Ministry of Economic Affairs in The Netherlands. The Ministry took steps to combine all institutions and support services supply in a single display as Entrepreneurs Plaza. The Chamber of Commerce is supposed to become the only physical one-stop-shop for all of them, but their main presentation would be a business support internet site of all institutions together. This means presenting the whole intermediate structure to the SME's as one virtual organization, while keeping behind the screen apart as separate institutions with their own status and responsibilities. Another conclusion was that quality assurance systems for business support organisations need to be routinely implemented, with reference to formal definitions of service standards. Furthermore, regular evaluations of the effectiveness and efficiency of support services have to become an integral part of the culture of support service provision. The final conference in Riga in May 2007 together with Hanse Passage sub-project Exchange to Export In conclusion, service providers and policy makers should continuously use evaluation tools in order to improve the quality, design and cost effectiveness of support services and disseminate the results among all the interested organisations that could instrumental in raising general awareness as to the importance of support services for SMEs. Obviously, enterprise development must be supported by appropriate training and access to finance should be facilitated on favourable terms. Finally, effective support of growing enterprises increasingly requires recognition of the beneficial interdependence of enterprises, like it happens, for example, in supply chain relationships or in clusters. By developing services for groups of enterprises, support agencies are making an increasing contribution to general economic development, particularly at the regional level. The final version of the comparative research Business support services in Hanse Passage Regions with 20 identified good practices, also presented during the closing conference in Riga (May 2007), is accessible on the Hanse Passage website: 5

6 Some good practice examples of business support services Pomeranian Economic Observatory (Pomorskie ). At the end of 2005, Pomerania Development Agency in co-operation with The University of Gdansk launched the project Pomeranian Economic Observatory. One of the useful tools is survey on the demands and expectations of SMEs, which helps collect the data necessary to make a comprehensive analysis. The results of the survey were processed by the scientists from the University. The resulting report contains information on leading sectors in the regional economy, demands of the SME with respect to training, advice, financial support, demands and capacity of the SMEs for co-operation with other partners like other firms, R+D units, business environment institutions, etc., on the regional, national and international levels. The Observatory is intended as an effective monitoring tool of the SME sector development and consequently should facilitate effective support of the sector. The project is funded from the European Social Fund and from the state budget of the Integrated Regional Operational programme. Wirtschafts-und-Tourismusfördergesellschaft Landkreis Peine (Lower Saxony) is a no-profit subsidiary, owned by the District of Peine and 8 local governments within the District. Start-up entrepreneurs are provided with a variety of seminars and lectures on the topic of business planning, securing liquidity, rating, conflict management, acquisition of new customers, accounting etc. Additionally the company is co-operating with the business senior organisation Senior assist juniors : a former bank manager is thus providing entrepreneurs with senior know-how. The Project Region of Brunswick GMbH (Lower Saxony) is a public-private partnership initiative It involves 7 regional authorities and about 70 enterprises. Partners are several large companies, the Employer's Association Brunswick as well the Metal union and several cities and districts. Currently the project Region of Brunswick GmbH co-ordinates 17 growth projects and 8 research co-operations such as WIN (having the task to provide one-stop professional support structures for middle-sized enterprises and start-ups). Halifax means Business (Yorkshire and the Humberside) provides an integrated advice and support service to businesses within the Action Halifax area. An independent panel of people, mainly from business support organisations and private sector businesses, make informed decisions as to who will receive grant support and the level to be offered. It has established a multi-faceted Grant Award Fund, assistance being start-up grants, business awards and re-location grants. The advisers also work with existing companies to assist with growth, training and development. The project receives money through both national and Urban Programmes. 6

7 Beneficiaries The ultimate beneficiaries of the project Business Support Services in Hanse Passage regions are SMEs benefiting in the medium to longer term from improved business support policies, structures and services. The immediate beneficiaries of the project are manifold: Senior staff from project partners who were involved in preparing comparative research and participating in study visits Representatives of public authorities responsible for business support policy, finance and delivery at local, regional or national level who were also invited to study visits. Providers of business support services who were asked to fill in a questionnaire about their practices in supporting SMEs (identification of good practices ). Bodies/associations representing categories/clusters of SMEs which were informed about the project and its results. Conclusion The best practices identified during the study visits have been collected in a kind of bank of good ideas. At the same time, the partners are of the opinion that the impacts of the jointly realized project will go beyond the production of this interesting compilation. The increased knowledge among decision makers and practitioners of business support policies and structures - participating in study visits and project meetings will undoubtedly yield further fruits. In Pomorskie, the project led to strengthened co-operation between the Marshall's Office and the Free Entrepreneurship Association and the involvement of the latter in the development of the Regional Development Plan for Pomorskie region. The potential for future collaboration projects (financed under Structural Funds or otherwise) will be definitely exploited. 7

8 Business Support Good Practice in Hanse Regions Project Lead Partner: Association Free Entrepreneurship Gdansk, Poland Project leader: Henryk Stasi_ski Project Partners: Radomir Matczak Arturs Dombrovskis Jean-Marie HAUPERT Melitta Arz Teun van Rooij Gerard van Drecht, Everhard Reckman drs. M.A. Aukema About the Hanse Passage Programme The barriers that national borders impose on balanced and sustainable development within the EU should be overcome by transnational co-operation on topics of mutual interest, starting from exchange of experience and knowledge in many fields of regional development. The enlargement of the EU has generated more trade, more transnational transport of goods and persons, a more dynamic development of tourism as well as a growing demand for more effective co-operation and exchange on policies and measures. National and regional governments within the EU must follow these developments. New policies and services are needed. The Hanse Passage Programme is a Regional Framework Operation (RFO) implemented under the Community Initiative Programme Interreg IIIC. It has been designed to build up strong, multinational partnerships among regional actors from fifteen regions in four old and two new member states: the Dutch Province of Groningen, being the Lead Partner of the Hanse Passage Programme, Dutch provinces of Friesland, Flevoland, Drenthe, Noord Holland and Overijssel, two German Länder Lower Saxony and Bremen, Haute Normandie, Yorkshire and the Humber, three Polish voivodships of Pomorskie, Dolnoslaskie and Lubelskie, and two Latvian regions of Kurzeme and Riga. The regions of the Hanse Passage partnership face similar problems: how to adapt regional policies, how to boost economically their regions. At the same time they are more than willing to identify the most effective ways and best practices that will help them, on the one hand, address their own deficits, and on the other, benefit from the changing conditions of the growing EU. The total budget of the programme is 8.733m Euro (including 5,365 m ERDF). There are over 180 organizations being involved in 3 cluster projects and 23 sub-projects. For further information and details please see the programme's website: Project part-financed by the Contact: Hanse Passage Theodor-Tantzen-Platz 8 D Oldenburg Phone: info@hanse-passage.net 8