joensuu region

Where the growth is SUCCESS AWAITS YOU IN THE JOENSUU REGION! Joensuu Regional Development Company JOSEK Ltd.

Know-how and cut ting-edge technology have inspired spearhead companies in the Joensuu Region to global success.

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Welcome to the Joensuu Region The Joensuu Region is a globally networked growth centre that is perpetually renewing itself and creating the ideal conditions for entrepreneurship. Local companies and associations work together productively to strengthen the region’s business life, economy, employment and services. In many people’s eyes the Joensuu Region is the most entrepreneur-friendly urban area in Finland, a place where decision-making also takes the views of companies into account. The Joensuu Region provides a skilled workforce for companies to match their various needs. The University of Joensuu, vocational colleges, the North Karelia University of Applied Sciences and vocational adult education provide a wide range of multidisciplinary learning. The diversity of education guarantees expertise and gives companies the proper tools in the face of shifting challenges. The Joensuu Region has a surprising amount to offer companies. Proximity to the Russian border opens markets to the East, the metal and forestry sectors are brimming with business opportunities, and the new growth sectors contain vast potential for innovation and success stories. Let’s build your company’s future together. Welcome to the Joensuu Region! Kari Karjalainen, Mayor of Joensuu

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JOSEK serves companies Entrepreneurship is highly valued in the Joensuu Region and a great deal invested in company development and internationalisation. The region offers companies favourable conditions for expansion investment. Excellent transport connections and a location close to the eastern border bring logistical advantages to all companies targeting the extensive Russian and Scandinavian markets. Experts from JOSEK, the Joensuu Regional Development Company Ltd, are ready to serve all companies in the Joensuu Region, whether starting up or developing their business operations. Business consultation experts are also on hand to assist companies and associations planning to relocate to the Joensuu Region. JOSEK is a low-threshold organisation. The company has a good relationship with the employer’s association and the chamber of commerce, and co-operates closely with all the development and training organisations. The role of JOSEK is as overall co-ordinator of the various actors. Are you relocating to the Joensuu Region? We help businesses to succeed. Contact us! Pekka Nuutinen, Managing Director Joensuu Regional Development Company Ltd (JOSEK )

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Invest and succeed! JOSEK’s tailored services and able professionals will drive the growth of your company.

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Support for development A company’s aspirations include the launch of flexible, fast and efficient operations. A range of expert services are available to companies located in the Joensuu Region to allow them to hit the ground running. JOSEK experts offer a company free advice on business location and premises, marketing and competition surveys, and guidance on the recruitment of personnel. Surveys covering subcontractors and network partners are performed once the company starts to grow. Further expansion of operations brings assistance with internationalisation issues and, where necessary, with ownership and succession. JOSEK helps companies at the start-up phase with testing of the business idea, cost accounting and the drafting of the business plan. Evaluation and refinement of the business idea forms part of JOSEK’s development services. Counselling services include business consultation and sponsorship, internationalisation and Russian services, as well as the Yritystulkki data bank. The Osuva enterprise exchange lists the businesses available for sale or purchase. Business consultation regarding change of ownership is available to both the outgoing and the new operator. JOSEK’s business consultants have a wide range of experience of entrepreneurship and business development: experts you can turn to for advice on all matters relating to business operations. Is your company interested in financing, contacts with expert organisations, consultation and development projects, technological development, or office solutions?

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FIND OUT ABOUT OUR INFORMATION SERVICES. Download a QR code on your mobile device or go to the address

www.josek.fi/fi/ neuvontapalvelut/

FIND OUT ABOUT THE REGISTERS. In the Josek registers you will find valuable information about companies, premises, or meeting venues in the area. Download a QR code on your mobile device or go to the address

www.josek.fi/fi/ rekisterit/

Experts

The threshold to the experts is low – business consultation services are free of charge. 7

Find and train employees committed to your cause! Companies in the Joensuu Region have access to a committed and skilled workforce to match their various needs. The Employment and Economic Development Office offers a range of services both to private customers and to employers. Key services are labour and workplace agency, guidance on training, career choice and planning and vocational rehabilitation. TäsmäKoulutus (“Precise Training”) is an alternative to the personnel training currently available, intended for when a company undergoes changes that require a more fundamental updating of expertise on behalf of the entrepreneur or employees. TäsmäKoulutus is vocational basic or complementary training tailored to the needs of companies and personnel. The training targets the development of professional skills to match forthcoming changes in the job description. Vocational qualifications, either in full or in part, may be taken during the training. RekryKoulutus (“Recruitment Training”) is a viable alternative when the employer is unable to find professionally skilled employees and there is a dearth of new graduates in the sector. Training is tailored according to company needs and students qualify for specific professions or tasks. RekryKoulutus can also be planned in co-operation with several employers.

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FIND PEOPLE TO WORK FOR YOU. Download a QR code on your mobile device or go to the address

www.mol.fi

Workforce

The Joensuu Region’s strength lies in the commitment of its workforce.

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Expertise

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New growth sectors The Joensuu Region possesses a diverse product development and innovation structure. The Finnish Forest Research Institute, the Geological Survey of Finland, the European Forest Institute and the Eastern Finland Centre of Excellence in Social Welfare are among the organisations that can be found here. Added to this, the internationally renowned nano research carried out at the University of Eastern Finland has resulted in the establishment of several nanotechnology companies in the region. The most notable industry employers are the metal and engineering sectors, providing almost half the jobs. In addition, the region’s forest industry experts have established Joensuu’s reputation as one of the forestry capitals of Europe.

New growth sectors

GET TO NOW A REAL GOLD MINE. Download a QR code on your mobile device or go to the address

www.endomines.fi

Recent growth has centred on the metal industry. In terms of economic figures the turnover in the manufacture of machinery and equipment in particular has increased dramatically, while there has been stable growth in the refining and processing industry. Completely new sectors with potential have emerged alongside the traditional industries. The bioenergy, mining, ITC and care sectors in particular have developed into knowledge centres for Joensuu Region. The presence of gold and copper has generated successful mining industry operations in the region. All these sectors hold enormous potential for growth and innovation.

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Education strengthening companies The Joensuu Region offers a variety of educational opportunities. Many of the degree courses can be taken in English. Joensuu also has an English- and Russian-language day care centre and an international IB School. UNIVERSITY OF EASTERN FINLAND The University of Eastern Finland has 14,000 students, of which 7,000 study in Joensuu. The university offers tuition in more than one hundred major subjects. www.uef.fi NORTH KARELIA UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED SCIENCES The university of applied sciences produces experts for a wide variety of needs, exemplified by the introduction there of Finland’s only course for computer game design. The university currently has 4,000 students. www.pkamk.fi NORTH KARELIA EDUCATIONAL FEDERATION OF MUNICIPALITIES North Karelia Vocational College operates in seven districts around North Karelia. The Adult Education Centre of North Karelia provides education for adults and those studying alongside work. Students in the educational units number close to 7,800. www.pkky.fi FINNISH-RUSSIAN SCHOOL OF EASTERN FINLAND The Joensuu Region can also provide education in Russian from pre-school through to upper secondary level. In its fifteen years of operation the Finnish-Russian School of Eastern Finland has already produced more than 2,000 school-leavers with a mastery of Finnish and Russian language and culture. www.itasuomenkoulu.fi

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Study in Finnish, English and Russian.

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Premises

Find premises in the Joensuu Region! We will seek a plot, industrial property or office space suitable for your company, with flexible transport connections.

FIND OUT ABOUT AVAILABLE PREMISES. Download a QR code on your mobile device or go to the address

www.josek.fi/ toimitilarekisteri

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www.joensuun yrityskiinteistot.fi

MORE BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES. Download a QR code on your mobile device or go to the address

www.tiedepuisto.fi

Locate to the region and grow! The Joensuu Region has high-quality premises ideal for the growth and success of business operations. Planned industrial sites or completed property or office space with excellent transport connections can all be found in the region.

Your office at the heart of the community Joensuu Science Park, centrally located amidst the region’s most important actors, has achieved wide recognition as an innovative operating environment. The science park is a functional service entity formed of a community of around 2,000 people and offering diverse and easily adaptable premises. A company located in the science park will gain an outstanding platform for doing business.

Vacant premises Vacant premises and business and warehouse facilities in the Joensuu Region are entered in an electronic register maintained by the Joensuu Regional Development Company Ltd (JOSEK). What kind of premises are you looking for?

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Border & Trade Journey from Joensuu to the nearest border crossing at Niirala a mere

75 km

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Major growth in tax-free trade in the Joensuu Region

Opportunities offered by Russia close at hand Trade with our Russian neighbour has been an easy affair over the centuries, with the journey from Joensuu to the nearest border crossing at Niirala a mere 75 kilometres. Recent years have witnessed tremendous growth. For instance, there were some 1.3 million border crossings in Niirala in 2011 and that year saw tax-free sales in Eastern Finland grow by nearly 70 per cent. The vast markets of Russia lie only a few hours away. Niirala is connected to Russia by both road and rail, while the crossing is open day and night throughout the year, easing the establishment of transport connections on both sides. The Joensuu Region has the expertise and the preparedness to serve companies in their dealings with Russia. The region is home to a large number of people who combine Russian as mother tongue with a mastery of Finnish. Functional co-operation networks have been set up in the region connecting with areas in Russia that contain great potential in terms of the companies located there. The Russian market contains the space and the opportunity for building outstanding success stories.

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A HOME BY A STREAM. Download a QR code on your mobile device or go to the address

www.jns.fi/ penttilanranta

Living environment

Quality of life and quality housing are both found in the Joensuu Region. Pent tilänranta offers the future by the river.

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A city of river and lake – a rural landscape rich in resources Nature in the Joensuu Region is luxuriant and ever-changing. Hills and ravines, marshes and fields offer plenty to see, do and experience. In its lakes and rivers the region has a variety of water areas abundant with fish. Apart from nature, the region offers a wealth of leisure and cultural activities. A home can be built by the water, in the heart of town or in the middle of fields; in fact, places can still be found that combine all three. Penttilänranta is a new residential area in the city centre, close by the river. Over the next few years the area will be built into a magnificent complex with the full range of services for children, young people, those of working age and the elderly. The Joensuu Region is also a holiday destination. Close to 24,000 summer cottages are dotted around the surrounding area, some of which double as second homes during the winter.

Joensuu Region is easy to find WHERE TO GO AND WHERE TO STAY. Download a QR code on your mobile device or go to the address

www.visitkarelia.fi

Transport connections to the Joensuu Region are excellent. The international airport is roughly 10 kilometres from the city centre, and the railway station is only a few hundred metres from the market square. A handy train connection runs from Joensuu to neighbouring Russia and the metropolis of Saint Petersburg. Transport by road offers flexibility – Joensuu lies on the north-south Highway 6, while Highway 9 joins from the west. What may not be so well-known is that you can get to the Joensuu Region by boat. A river connection from Joensuu’s Pielisjoki river leads to Central Europe and, via the Volga river, all the way to the Caspian Sea or the Black Sea and beyond.

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Joensuu-Helsinki Joensuu-Kuopio Joensuu-Jyväskylä Joensuu-Tampere Joensuu-Oulu 60 min

438 km 137 km 247 km 395 km 397 km

Joensuu-Sortavala 142 km Joensuu-Saint Petersburg 410 km Joensuu-Petrozavodsk 390 km

• KOLI

JUUKA Juuka 45 min

15 min

OUTOKUMPU

LIPERI

BY PLANE 45 min.

ILOMANTSI Ilomantsi

POLVIJÄRVI Polvijärvi Eno

• AIRPORT KONTIOLAHTI Joensuu JOENSUUKiih

OULU

5 min Pyhäselkä

Tu

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up ov a

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KUOPIO

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JYVÄSKYLÄ TAMPERE

• NIIRALA, BORDER STATION

JOENSUU

PETROZAVODSK SORTAVALA

HELSINKI ST. PETERSBURG TALLINN

www.josek.fi/kasvunpaikka JOSEK OY, Länsikatu 15, FI-80110 Joensuu Tel. +358 20 721 8770 | [email protected] | www.josek.fi

Joensuu Regional Development Company JOSEK Ltd.