Good practice:

The Ahead Plan

Castilla-La Mancha works to improve the innovation and competitiveness of its businesses, since there are significant weaknesses that must be compensated by coordinating actions to support innovation and creating a favourable environment to attract new investments.
Likewise, it is necessary to strengthen collaboration networks to promote the dynamism and competitiveness of the territories. Another fundamental aspect is the access of companies to financing. It is necessary to develop other forms of regional public funding that are adapted to the needs of businesses. Finally, Castilla-La Mancha supports the capacity of companies to grow in international markets.
To achieve these objectives, various lines of financial support have been created and Ahead Offices have been set up to advise companies.
The stakeholders accompanying the regional government in this project are the main economic agents of the region. The initiative is aimed at SMEs and entrepreneurs.

To implement the Plan, a financial path was estimated for the period 2016-19, for each of 6 strategic axes, which was reflected in the regional budgets. The financial path of the Plan Adelante amounted to 260.12 million euros, with a distribution by 6 different lines.

The Ahead Plan for the period 2016-2019 has, in general terms, achieved the objectives set out in its design, with the backing of the results obtained, which are summarised in the support received by 21,766 companies (almost all of them SMEs) and has served to consolidate or create more than 44,000 jobs. More than 314 million euros have been made available to companies in Castilla-La Mancha.

Although the results have been very positive, there is still a long way to go to achieve the goal of having stronger companies. The communication channels with the potential beneficiaries showed room for improvement.

The Ahead Plan has proved to be a valuable instrument in the strategy to achieve the strengthening of businesses in Castilla-La Mancha.
Its nature and its open and flexible character mean that it has potential for emulation in other territories.
As with all planned actions, it is necessary to have a deep knowledge of the business reality of the territory in order to identify the potential of the companies (weaknesses and strengths) and the challenges they have to face.
The collaboration of stakeholders must be taken into account in the design stage of the strategic plan. This participation can be encouraged through online resources (when the number of participants is very high, using forms) or offline (through face-to-face meetings when the number of stakeholders is lower). In the case of the business sector, the offline route seems more appropriate, with the participation of the most representative economic and social agents in the territory.