2017-09-18

Cleantech Kvarken initiates a new way of working that will contribute to more business in the Kvarken Region

The project team of Cleantech Kvarken is going to try a completely new way of establishing new business contacts within cleantech in the Kvarken-region. Business developers from Merinova Technology Center and Vaasa Region Development Company VASEK in Vaasa will be in place for a few days each month in Örnsköldsvik, Umeå and Skellefteå to meet Swedish companies and Swedish business developers will meet with companies in Vaasa a few days each month.

The idea is to make it easier for companies interested in business opportunities across the Kvarken to get in contact with the project team and get help with e.g. establishments. On the Swedish side this work is carried out by North Sweden Cleantech which is the regional platform in cleantech in northern Sweden. The plan is to commence this in October this year.

– We have listened to the needs of the companies and there is a great interest for business collaboration across the Kvarken. The companies are asking for help with contacts. By being in place in Vaasa we can, from the Swedish side, continuously capture requests from Finnish companies and match them with the business interests of Swedish companies, says Peter Hedman, project manager for Cleantech Kvarken.

– This is very concrete work. One example is the company PeTec in Vaasa, which manufactures a unique type of drainage pipe and needs assistance with its investment in the Swedish market. Our mission is to help them get business connections, says Lasse Pohjala, senior business advisor at VASEK.

The idea of the new way of working came to life when the project team of Cleantech Kvarken met in Vaasa 6-7 September 2017 to plan upcoming project activities and meet five companies from Vaasa and Korsholm: Wärtsilä, Norcar Automation, Vasa Energy Business Innovation Center (VEBIC), SK Tuote and PeTec.

Cleantech Kvarken is an interregional Botnia-Atlantica project funded by the EU Regional Development Fund, the Ostrobothnia federation, the Region Västerbotten, municipalities of Umeå and Örnsköldsvik, Umeå Energy, the city of Vaasa and Vasek.