As part of the ‘Policy Support for Industrial Resilience’ online webinar which took place on the 26-06-2020, Clusterland and COVID-19 – what we do in times of despair was presented by Werner Pamminger, CEO Business Upper Austria – OÖ Wirtschaftsagentur GmbH. In his intervention, Werner focused on the measures and actions that were taken to support the local companies.
Mobilizing for crisis response
How do you interact with the clusters in response to the crisis?
How are you connecting clusters with support mechanisms available?
What we do …
• Massive corona emergency packages by the Federal State (40+ bill€) and the State of Upper Austria (580bill€)
• Clusterland gets a mandate for servicing the UA companies (not just cluster partners!)
• Setting up a task force of 50 pax helpline to serve “most” regional companies) more than 3,000 corporate contacts so far!)
• Not just incoming but massively outgoing (active calls!) to regional companies – great feedback!
• Objective: Help companies to obtain liquidity and gain access to government programs
Image: One of our experts from the task force
Credit: Business Upper Austria
Living with the pandemic
What is the new support the clusters need from economic development organizations?
How are you helping to align policy actions with cluster needs?
Innovation in times of despair
• Setting up regional value chains for PPE and other med-tech-equipment
• Aligning regional suppliers and industries with demand by public authorities
• Setting up innovation projects meeting the regional demand of new “regional” demand
Igniting new growth.
How can you help clusters to transform or reposition?
What new dynamics are emerging and what new roles have to play economic development organizations in the new normal?
What we are planning for …
• Nothing less than contribute to the reconstruction of the regional economy/industry (a little like after WWII)
• Business model adjustment and industry transformation as key topics
• (International) competitiveness through collaborative innovation as core strategy (in close cooperation with our 11 research-institutions (650+ research staff)
• Aiming for 150+ cooperative innovations project p.a. (again)
What we hope for …
• Trust is becoming a new currency (invested 20yrs+ in UA in trust building)
• Strong regional value chains and a strong manufacturing base in a high-wage country will pay off
• Strong institutions will make the difference!
