The Skellefteå company Optronic is at the centre of the region with the country’s strongest growth. In Skellefteå, invests the most per capita and the business is accelerating when many others are being forced to put the foot on the brake. As part of this, Optronic has chosen to support Nyföretagarcentrum as a partner.
“There is a positive atmosphere in our region and we want to do what we can to help the new entrepreneurs of the future,” Ulrik Stenbacka, CEO, says.
Already two years ago, before Northvolt announced that Skellefteå would be the site for its battery factory, strong fair winds were blowing for Skellefteå’s business community – but, of course, the unique situation now being experienced is thanks to Northvolt’s attraction. The Northvolt One factory alone, when fully built, could provide some 2,500 jobs. Counting suppliers and new services, the number could grow to over 10,000 in total.
Angelica Falk, Nyföretagarcentrum Skellefteå.
In Skellefteå, this concerns investments of at least SEK 60 billion in the private and public sectors by 2030.
“We are feeling very strong confidence in the future and great innovative capacity in Skellefteå. You could expect the motivation in start-ups to drop during a pandemic, but we have not seen any signs of this at all,” Angelica Falk, business manager and advisor at the Nyföretagarcentrum in Skellefteå, says.
500 innovative creators annually
More and more private enterprises are seeing the great advantages to be gained from investing in a medium-sized town and taking advantage of the available benefits and these factors are attracting talent. In a study by the engineering and design company, Afry, in which 5,500 young people participated, only 12 percent said they wanted to live in a city with more than one million inhabitants.
About 500 people a year come to the Nyföretagarcentrum with an idea that they want to take further, and now Optronic is there, as a partner that has signed up for silver membership. This initiative will support the idea-bearers who apply to the incubator. For many years now, Optronic has supported local start-ups in various ways, but it is now taking its commitment to the next level.
“A perfect home”
“We have a long history of driving entrepreneurship forward in Skellefteå, and we think it is important to support good ideas in every way we can, so the region can grow. Start-ups are an important part of this and Optronic is the perfect home for an engineer wanting to start his or her own business and has an idea, or a company searching for an electronics partner, where their product can be developed. We have the organisation and know-how needed for this type of cooperation,” Ulrik Stenbacka says.
“This is a clear commitment from Optronic, which will help many new entrepreneurs on their journey. It is also a chance for Optronic to forge an early relationship with talents who are in great demand today,” Angelica Falk says.
