Barcelona Activa
Barcelona, in the North-East of Spain, on the shores of the Mediterranean, is one of the largest cities in Europe and the centre of an extensive metropolitan region covering more than 217 towns, housing 4.6 million inhabitants. It is the economic, cultural and administrative capital of Catalonia; it provides work for more than two million people and, together with Madrid, concentrates 41% of all qualified jobs in Spain.
It is at the forefront of an emerging area of economic activity in Southern Europe, home to 17 million inhabitants and more than 800,000 businesses. Barcelona is mainly oriented towards new strategic, competitive and international sectors and is becoming internationally consolidated as one of the main European cities.
The town planning strategy, which today is known internationally as the Barcelona model, brings with it economic growth which is considered to be fairly important. The metropolitan GNP per capita has grown from 83% of the European Union in 1996 to approximately 115%.
The basis for this growth can be found in a metropolis with a polycentric and economically-diversified business structure which facilitates its role as a hotbed of new ideas, companies and products. The rate of entrepreneurial activity in the Barcelona province in 2006 was 8.9%, which is higher than the average rate from the EU (5.5%) and from Spain (7.3%). Barcelona is being consolidated as the most entrepreneurial area in Europe.
On the other hand, the uninterrupted expansion of foreign markets in strategic and more competitive sectors has become a deciding factor in the consolidation of the international economic activity of the Barcelona area, particularly driven by the Fira, the Port, the Airport, the Free Zone Consortium, the Barcelona Tourism Consortium and the new districts for technological innovation. Nowadays, Barcelona is considered as the forth best city to do business according to the Cushman and Wakefield study of 2007.
Barcelona Activa, the local development agency of Barcelona City Council, has the mission to promote quality and future-oriented employment and businesses.
In line with this mission, Barcelona Activa designs with innovation and quality a wide and varied range of programmes through five activity lines:
- Fostering entrepreneurship;
- Support for new business growth;
- Boosting new professional opportunities;
- Access, inclusion and improvement of employment;
- Promotion of innovation.
The Business Incubator of Barcelona Activa, with almost 4.000 square meters, is one of the biggest public business incubators in Europe and, with its more than 70 companies installed per year; it is one of the largest concentration of innovative start ups in Spain.
It is placed in the 22@ district, a clustering area for the knowledge economy and information society businesses in Barcelona. The coaching methodology, the quality of the facilities, and the business to business cooperation programs allow incubated companies to have a survival rate of 84% at the 4th year.
The business incubator is complemented by another innovation environment: the Barcelona North Technology Park, where nearly 50 innovative and technology-based companies are installed. The Technology Park offers more than one hundred renting modules between 26 and 90 square meters that can be adapted to the necessities of each business and interconnected among themselves.
It is placed in an area of social and economic transformation, and it constitutes the biggest concentration of business in the north area of Barcelona and a powerful technological cluster. One of the indicators of the success of this environment is that more than 60% of the firms installed in it cooperate among them. Both spaces, the incubator and the Technology Park, accommodate business that in 2005 created a total of 765 jobs.
Barcelona Activa offers to its coached companies a wide range of value-added support initiatives with the aim to create a truly competitive business ecosystem; such as specialised business advice, growth itineraries and business cooperation networks. The Xarxactiva network, with more than 650 member companies is an active-network program for companies in consolidation and growth stage.
Barcelona Activa also coaches nearly 400 companies towards business growth a year and this is done from four different perspectives: the improvement of management support, the access to funding, the enhancement of sales skills and the opening up of international markets. These are combined with the virtual environment of Barcelonanetactiva.com, an internet portal that constitutes the main stone of the model based on on-line contents and tools, which have been transferred to several institutions around the world.
In the city of Barcelona there are some other Technology and Science parks, such as the Barcelona Science Park (University of Barcelona), the Biomedical Research Park of Barcelona (Pompeu Fabra University), The Scientific and Technology Park of the Autonomous University of Barcelona, the Innovation Park La Salle, the Technology Park of Barcelona (Polytechnic University of Catalunya).
Now, thanks to a collaboration agreement with the Barcelona Science Park (http://www.pcb.ub.cat) GGN services offered by Barcelona Activa will be extended to biomedical and biotech companies. The Barcelona Science Park houses more than 1.400 professionals, 30 companies, a biotech companies incubator, 3 institutes and a wide range of technological facilities, all of which work in emerging research areas of chemistry, biology, pharmacy, biotechnology and nanobioengineering.
SERVICES
- Global Growth Network Basic Services
- Resources Centre for entrepreneurs
- Knowledge weeks for entrepreneurs
- What you need to know to become an entrepreneur
- On line business plan
- The Day of the entrepreneur: http://www.barcelonanetactiva.com/dia
- Business Network Xarxa Activa d'Empreses: http://www.barcelonanetactiva.com/barcelonanetactiva/cat/creixement-d-empreses-i-innovacio/xarxactiva-d-empreses/index.jsp
- Global sales strategies: a workshop for Barcelona's ambitious high- growth entrepreneurs
- Ready 4 Growth- investment readiness seminar
- Mentoring programme
- Put an MBA in your company
- Basic tools of management
- Women entrepreneurs- Odame- programme
- Business and innovation bridges
- DETECT-it project
- Virtual school for entrepreneurs
- Barcelona Business: www.bcn.es/barcelonanegoci
- To be an entrepreneur with Barcelona Activa is easy
Detailed information can be found at:
http://www.barcelonanetactiva.com
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