EUKN - European Urban Knowledge Network - Woensel West Business Point stimulates entrepreneurship

Woensel West Business Point stimulates entrepreneurship - Eindhoven, the Netherlands

Introduction

Surveys and interviews have revealed that businesses in Woensel West often feel that they are inadequately informed about developments in the area. The Woensel West Business Point that will be set up by the Municipality of Eindhoven must satisfy this need for information and ensure that businesses feel involved in plans that are developed for the area.

Description

Stimulate businesses to actively think about and participate in the implementation of new initiatives that improve the quality of life in the area.

Approach

The aim of the Business Point is to set up a network between businesses and local people. To this end, entrepreneurs’ meetings will be organised on a regular basis. The intention is to develop common activities that will attract more customers to the area. The Business Point will, incidentally, not be limited to the creation of networks, but will also stimulate good entrepreneurship. In this way it will act as a sparring partner that entrepreneurs can turn to if they have any questions about developing a business plan or carrying out a business analysis.

Results

The hope is to attract new entrepreneurs to existing business premises who will be stimulated by the positive and appealing climate of investment for businesses. By properly referring entrepreneurs to skilled service providers, the Business Point expects that it will be easier for the business community in Woensel to adopt a more professional approach towards business.

Resources used

European subsidy: € 54.762
Total cost: € 109.523

EU involvement

This project has been partially funded with Objective 2 funds. Since 2000 nine cities have been eligible for the Objective 2 Urban Areas in the Netherlands programme, which forms part of the European Fund for Regional Development (EFRD) of the European Union. EFRD is one of the four Structural Funds of the European Commission. The programme helps cities to carry out projects that benefit disadvantaged areas.

In the Netherlands, total European Objective 2 subsidies concern 192 million euros. 4.25% of the Dutch population lives in the selected areas.

The European Commission prescribes that for every euro from the EFRD, a minimum of one euro must be contributed from the government. The cities must therefore add their own public or private funding to the European subsidy. The European programme is linked to the urban plans agreed within the context of the urban policy of the Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations. For this, the cities can make use of funds that have been allocated to them in the context of the national urban policy.

Contact info

Eindhoven Focus - local programme management
Phone: +31 40 - 2370100

Project start date

20/09/2004

Links

City of Eindhoven

Document type

case

Themes

Urban Policy > Economy knowledge & employment > Urban economy

Keywords

Business support