Pohjan Akka – development of female and family entrepreneurship in the Republic of Karelia and Kainuu through cooperation with Russia (Interreg)

The goal of the joint project was to improve the opportunities for female and family entrepreneurs in the Republic of Karelia and Eastern Finland to utilise their location on the border region and to increase their capacity to operate with their affiliates on both sides of the border. The main activities of the project were to be training for entrepreneurs, officials and immigrants responsible for business activities; company-specific coaching; educational and contact-making trips to nearby regions; creation of cooperation networks; and active communication on both sides of the border. A publication was to be assembled from the most significant content of the project’s training period.

The ability of entrepreneurs to engage in business across the border was developed through training on both sides of the border. In Russia, training was provided by both Russian business experts and specialists in Finnish business from the perspective of cooperation with Finland. On both sides of the border, the training topics included creating a business plan, marketing, pricing, customer service, business law and taxation. Entrepreneurs, assisted by instructors, created concrete business plans for their companies during the training in Russia. In addition, the training in Finland included customer service training for Russian immigrants, which helped to reinforce their ability to work in Finnish tourism and service industry companies. As well as business-related training, the focus was laid on language training both in Finland and Russia. During the lessons Finnish entrepreneurs where encouraged to communicate in Russian and Russians in Finnish. There were a total of 48 course participants in Russia (40 entrepreneurs and 8 officials). A total of 41 different training periods were organised in Finland. 180 participants took part in the sections targeting companies and 120 in the sections intended for immigrants. The contact-making trips made by Finnish entrepreneurs to the Republic of Karelia and St. Petersburg and the educational and contact-making trips made by Russian entrepreneurs and officials to North Karelia and Kainuu were also an important part of the project activities. The trips included several company visits and collaboration meetings where new contacts were made and concrete cooperation opportunities were planned. The contact-making trips also off ered the entrepreneurs a good opportunity to market their products and services. The entrepreneurs learned about the activities of their counterparts in the neighbouring country and obtained ideas for developing their own operations. The trips also helped to reduce the cooperation-hindering prejudices on both sides of the border. The projects also organised cooperative meetings between local officials responsible for business activity in Finland and Russia, which created a foundation for knowledge of the neighbouring countrys operational area and methods and for creating a cooperation network; this in turn promotes entrepreneurship and business cooperation. At least 5 different cooperation networks were created during the project. The entrepreneurs made beneficial contacts and picked up ideas for developing their business activities during the project. In addition, cooperation between officials and entrepreneurs was developed within and between regions. A Steps Towards Entrepreneurship publication, based on the projects key content, was created in Finnish and Russian for use by new entrepreneurs and local officials. A Financing Agreement of the Tacis part of the joint project has been made under the name Pohjan Akka development of female and family entrepreneurship in the Republic of Karelia.