FIN-URB-ACT: Results

FIN-URB-ACT strives for more efficient local support structures for SMEs' development and innovative economies. The rationale is that such structures on local level - where financial instruments meet nonfinancial assistance - are basic prerequisites for fostering start-ups and business growth.

Economy

Financing innovative enterprises and SMEs requires the participation of a number of specialised private and public players, which do not generally include cities. Yet, today, these players are indispensible to the economic development and to attractiveness of these same cities. The eleven FIN-URB-ACT partners worked together to define what their role and contribution could be in terms of strategies and instruments that support SMEs, despite their lack of expertise in financing this type of player.

Key Results

The Fin-URB-ACT network of cities and their Local Support Groups worked on four themes in order to outline their role and missions with SMEs and to apply them through their Local Action Plans. These were:

the partnerships that could be developed between the city and its Managing Authority around the issue of SMEs,
the needs of very small enterprises and those of innovative enterprises,
the communication aimed at enterprises and project leaders
promoting entrepreneurship among a wider audience.

Conclusions and recommendations for cities:

Cities have the capacity to play a leading role in developing integrated plans: Both cities and managing authorities accept their legitimacy as coordinators. Better yet, experience shows that their participation enables the initiation of new financial instruments, be it microcredit (in Leipzig), capital investment with other partners (Gijon), or the creation of regional investment funds (in Edinburgh). At the level of services offered to enterprises, their position as coordinator enables the rationalisation of actions that already exist, in order to avoid repetition and to create an integration action strategy.
The proposed instruments must match the actual needs in the field and for that to be the case, running a study focussed on SME expectations and existing actions is a useful tool.
The methodology used by FIN-URB-ACT aims to establish a consensus among all the actors that support SMEs brought together in the Local Support Group. It proved its efficiency in Linz and in Aveiro, which tested it, and as a result can be considered a good practice.
Small enterprises appreciate the one-stop approach that aims at simplifying the procedures related to creating their businesses. During the project, it was noted that they regret that this instrument was limited to the creation phase and could not be extended through the entire business consolidation period. Although this concept needs to be examined more deeply, the Local Support Groups are a good basis for developing this kind of tool, which will bring together information and services supplied by the players that support SMEs.
Local universities are key partners. They play an advisory role in developing local action plans and have an active mission by teaching entrepreneurship to their students. Universities are not always aware of the role they play at a local level. Cities should help them understand this.

Download the final FIN-URB-ACT report - PDF