ABOUT US

BEST POSSIBLE SERVICE FOR COMPANIES IN OUR REGION

To offer an individual, fast and local service to the "smallest", small and medium-sized companies in trade, industry, & services and other businesses in the Community  Altenkirchen (AK), to assist in sustaining the competitiveness of already existing businesses within the region around Altenkirchen, to attract new businesses to the area and further improve the infrastructure of the community (roads, rail, broadband). These are the declared goals of the organisation known as Wirtschaftsförderungsgesellschaft Kreis Altenkirchen mbH (WFG).

Consultation before investment, assistance in the application & use of aid programmes, procurement of business premises as well as commercial real estate, brokering contacts with universities, research facilities and companies in the region, consultation for those setting-up businesses and further improvement of the situation in vocational training, rapid access to autobahns via B8/B 414 i.e. B 62, the rapid rail connection along the so-called Siegstrecke to Köln/Bonn (Sprinter) count among the most important tasks in order to remain competitive in the region and maintain the manpower in rural areas as well as improving "contact" to industrialised conurbations such as Köln/Bonn and Siegen. The goal is to make the region between Siegerland and Westerwald more attractive as a location.

In times of demographic change, innovation and its "maintenance" as well as attracting skilled workforces for the rural community of Altenkirchen plays an immensely important role. These are only a couple of reasons why the WFG is closely linked to schools and further education in the region. One of the most important universities is the University of Siegen.

In reaching this goal, cooperation in a number of fields or branches plays an ever-increasing role. The WFG views itself as an initiator of cooperation, bundling together expertise, and thereby driving forward local industry.

Represented through an expert team of consultants comprising 6 positions; 2 Managing Directors, 1 Business Start-up i.e. Financial Aid Consultant, 1 Cluster Adviser and a Coordinator for vocational further training constitute an ideal range of services. 2 adept ladies in the field of Project Support at the WFG i.e. Cluster complete the WFG consulting team. This WFG team sees itself as service provider towards companies and is highly flexible- time-wise and location-wise. Consultations take place through pre-arranged appointments, more often than not on-location, almost anywhere inside the whole of the area under the auspices of the WFG. Small and medium-sized companies in the area value and take advantage of this service.

The WFG Team at Kreis Altenkirchen mbH
(from left): Oliver Schrei (MD), Slawomir Swaczyna, Anette Pheiler, Gabriele Wäschenbach, Tim Kraft and Berno Neuhoff (MD)

Maintaining Current Business as a Top Priority

Already existing companies in the region also possess the right to be supported by the WFG. One of the top priorities of the WFG is supporting home-grown companies on its doorstep. This is the reason why so-called maintaining current business is the most important mission within the activities of the WFG.
According to new research* around the whole of Germany, a total of only 50 companies settle annually into what is defined as rural locations. A rurally-orientated area is therefore in an unenviable position regarding success and the way it develops. It is more so important for the community of Altenkirchen to make the world aware of attractive business areas in almost all locally-governed areas for example, around Herdorf. To take just one example, county & local government at Nauroth can currently offer a large area of 140.000 m². This can be developed immediately. Those interested are cordially invited to view the attractive conditions and possibilities presented by this truly unique piece of real estate.

Promoting Regional Cooperation

Cooperation between different companies within a region with different expertise, such as the qualification of workers or the development of innovative products and services, are more often than not of major importance for the success for individual companies. Where there is the wish for cooperation, the WFG intermediates and initiates contact.

One basic principle in the work carried out by the WFG is clear task assignment. This is valid for not only both managing directors but also for the rest of the team. Managing director Oliver Schrei attends to the fields of setting up new businesses, setting up a new or taking-on an existing business and broad-band/DSL – in other words, the classical fields of promoting business with the WFG. Managing director  Berno Neuhoff, who joint-manages the offices responsible for regional & local development (Tourismus, culture, Energie) for local government, is also responsible for road & rail, regional & locational marketing (u.a. „Wir Westerwälder“), vocational education and/or training and marketing of business locations. Together, they join forces to manage the most important and work-intensive network, die branch initiative known as Metal. Defined here under the name Metal are 3 main points: export, innovation (Oliver Schrei) and personnel/attracting skilled workers (Berno Neuhoff). Over the last few years, 8 companies and the University of Siegen have formed a guidance group, creating entepreneurial ideas and projects from the region. For the WFG, this means the formation of a fully tangible and target-orientated basis in the field of metallic & machine engineering- both upstream as well as downstream. And of course, a specialist WFG team is there to support management.

Branch Initiative Metal gets a new Perspective through the Innovation Cluster – Further Training / Education as extended Focal Point

Over the past few years, the WFG has created new focal points and strengthened its consultation service in the interests of companies in the northern Rhineland Palatinate, in order to be in a good position to provide rapid service in face of global demands both inside and outside the region. Decisive hereby was the fact that 2 additional positions were made available to the Branch Initiative Metal via the Innovationscluster Metall-Keramik-Kunststoff which was financed through European i.e. public funds (75%).  Moreover, within the scope of a trans-boundary project known as “Weiterbildungsregion Kreis Altenkirchen” (further training region Altenkirchen), the Federal State has been supporting a further model project in the Rheineland Palatinate the interface "Koordination der beruflichen Weiterbildung" (further training coordination) since the 1st March 2010. This is available to all companies. It puts together "precisely-tailored" further training and enables collective learning for companies in what is proudly called AK-Land.

* ExperConsult, Dortmund