Developing Regional Marketing, Strategic Planning and Business Counselling in the Cities of Joensuu and Petrozavodsk (Tacis)

The purpose of this joint project was to contribute to the implementation of the new long-term strategies of Joensuu and Petrozavodsk, particularly in the areas of regional marketing, development of economic life and corporate advisory services. The advantages of the project were perceived as mutual and based on a partnership that would develop cooperation across the border. The intention of the Interreg section was the development of international economic life in the Joensuu region by expanding the cooperation network of Josek Oy and making the region better known in Petrozavodsk. The goal in the longer term was to increase commerce and cooperation of the regions, which in turn would create new companies and jobs in the Joensuu region. The main procedures of the Tacis part would be regional marketing activities that would improve awareness of the region and develop the preconditions for industries in Petrozavodsk by creating an organisation responsible for the development of industries for the city. The organisation would be modelled after the Joensuu Regional Development Company, JOSEK Ltd. The organisation would be responsible for contributing to implementing the Petrozavodsk development strategy, marketing Petrozavodsk both in Russia and internationally, and functioning as a central entity for economic cross-border cooperation. The model of the new development organisation to be created during the project could also be used elsewhere.

Opening seminars in Joensuu and Petrozavodsk were arranged for the public introduction of the project. A study of the Joensuu region’s image in Petrozavodsk was completed as background material for regional marketing and, similarly, an assessment of the image of Petrozavodsk in Joensuu was completed. The results were published at press conferences in Joensuu and Petrozavodsk. The research reports were completed in Finnish, Russian and English. The reports were delivered to internal and external stakeholders and were also presented at various events in Joensuu and Petrozavodsk. As regional marketing material of the Joensuu region’s economic life, a brochure was produced in Russian, which was distributed through, for example, the Finnish-Russian Chamber of Commerce, Finpro, the Embassy and Consulates in Russia. In addition, the Russian version of the Josek Ltd website was completed at www.josek.ru, which included the information from the brochure. An operational plan was created for the regional marketing of Petrozavodsk, and brochures were produced as marketing material in Finnish about the city of Petrozavodsk and its economic life. News exchange between the Joensuu and Petrozavodsk regions was launched. The media of Petrozavodsk and Republic of Karelia were notifi ed twice a month of the most significant news and events in the Joensuu region. Likewise, the Petrozavodsk news and events were communicated to the media of North Karelia. This practice is to be standardised after the project. As background material for planning the development organisation to be created in Petrozavodsk, an assessment was commissioned to a St. Petersburg company regarding the projects and models implemented in Russia intended for establishing a regional development organisation. The Spatia Centre for Regional Research of the University of Joensuu conducted a study of Finnish regional development organisations in Finland. In addition, the Russian Academy of Sciences studied the current consultant service market and business support services, the needs of SME companies, and the potential partners of a new development entity in Petrozavodsk. The project arranged a two-week learning and training trip for key individuals of the City of Petrozavodsk and the project personnel to JOSEK, Cursor in Kotka, Jykes in Jyväskylä, and Imatran Seudun Kehitysyhtiö Oy in the area of Imatra. In addition, workshops were held in Joensuu and Petrozavodsk for planning the operational plan and role of the development company as well as for discussing the results of the completed research. The detailed planning of the regional development company’s operational plan and model is in progress, and the intention is to begin operations of the new company in Petrozavodsk prior to the conclusion of the Tacis part of the project. A foundation for the cooperation network in Petrozavodsk and Northwest Russia in general was created for Josek Oy during the project. Two new networks were created as a result: 1. Josek Oy, Petrozavodsk Development Company, Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Republic of Karelia, and SME Support Association (Petrozavodsk) 2. Josek Oy, Cursor Oy’s Russia Services, Petrozavodsk Development Company. Approximately 10 assignments for seeking partners for companies in North Karelia were relayed to the Tacis part’s office of the joint project. In addition, other new business contacts to the IT and media industries in Petrozavodsk were created.