Business Center Bornholm and the local business service
importance to Bornholm's welfare was highlighted
at this year's representative assembly meeting
Press release 14/4 2023.
On March 30th, Business Center Bornholm held a well-attended representative meeting
at Green Solution House.
Demonstration of value
Here, the focus was, among other things, on making the value created by Business Center Bornholm visible – because, as the chair of the board, Karen Bladt, said in the annual report:
”We need to get better at showing that a strong business community is a prerequisite for welfare on Bornholm. Jobs and welfare are, after all, connected. A Bornholm business community that creates jobs – and thereby tax revenue in the municipal treasury – is a prerequisite for the Bornholm Regional Municipality to be able to offer citizens the best service.”
In the chair's report, she also touched upon the importance of strengthening Bornholm-based businesses through the local business service that Business Center Bornholm carries out on behalf of BRK. Especially at a time of economic uncertainty and rapid development in digital, sustainability and technology areas, it is important to help businesses along the way – and Business Center Bornholm does precisely that, both through the 461 introductory meetings and 1:1 sparring sessions that took place in 2022 and the free workshops and events businesses can attend, as well as via the many projects that BCB is involved in.
In the report, Karen Bladt outlined some of the projects where BCB acted as either project operator or partner in 2022, thereby helping to bring both financial resources and knowledge to Bornholm. These ranged from Genstart Erhverv i Gadeplan (Restart Business on the High Street), which has strengthened 92 of the island's businesses, to Faglært er Fedt (Skilled is Great), which aims to secure more skilled labour in the future, and Tilflytterservice (Newcomer Service), where 437 people moved to Bornholm in 2022 following contact with the project's staff.
Energy is important for Bornholm
The work with businesses in connection with the energy island was also in focus, with projects including the National Centre for Green Energy and Ready for Energy Island Bornholm, where work has been carried out in areas such as ISO certifications, preparation for the offshore industry and business collaborations with DTU and other universities. Here, Karen Bladt stated:
”With the energy island and associated industries comes a workforce that must live and reside on the island, and thus many will be able to feel the side effect of the energy island. It will spread like ripples in water.”
Following the chairman’s report, high praise was expressed for Business Center Bornholm’s efforts by a number of various stakeholders, including Mayor Jacob Trøst, Michael Almeborg from the Confederation of Danish Industry, Søren Møller Christensen from Baltic Energy Island, Lone Reppien Thomsen from Offshore Center Bornholm, Liselotte Hjorth from the Danish Chamber of Commerce and the Rønne Traders’ Association, as well as Frederik Tolstrup from Bornholm’s Agriculture & Food. They highlighted, among other things, BCB’s in-depth knowledge of Bornholm businesses and the value BCB creates for them, just as many underlined the need to secure BCB’s budget moving forward, in order to continue supporting development and growth in the Bornholm business community, to the benefit of the whole of Bornholm.
Head of Business at Business Center Bornholm, Christa Lodahl, subsequently went through the many results for 2022 in projects and operations, as well as what 2023 has in store, based on the distributed annual report for 2022.
The meeting of the representative body was concluded with a presentation by CEO Lars Nordahl Lemvig from Rønne Havn A/S on ”Bornholm as a green filling station”. Here, he spoke about many of the initiatives and considerations that Rønne Port, together with partners, is working on, and the various opportunities within power-to-X. The service port and the opportunities it can provide for the entire island were also touched upon.
Material and contact
Download the chairman's report here
Download Business Center Bornholm's annual report for 2022 here
For enquiries, please contact Head of Business Development Christa Lodahl on cl@bornholm.biz or 30502128