Wirtschaftsstandort Oldenburg

the ground. The target group also receives support from
the CCI over and beyond the initial start-up phase. Since
January 2015, it has offered a series of events called
“Concrete Business” for everyday business practice and
routine with consultation days, workshops, seminars, short
presentations and an opportunity for sharing, cooperating
in this respect with the economic development agencies.
The CCI also runs a “Good Start!” XING group as a forum
for start-ups and new businesses, offering young entre -
preneurs opportunities for sharing and networking.
Höller knows exactly what a start-up friendly climate
needs: “We’re talking about lean, efficient administration,
simple, fair taxation and access to financial aid.“ This is why
Oldenburg CCI advocates arousing the earliest possible
understanding for business issues, also including schools
and universities in the process. “You need to know how
business works in order to take sound decisions”, says
Höller. Valuable support is also provided here by the
“wigy e. V.” organisation set up in Oldenburg to support
the schools.
In some cases, the educational establishments have taken
their own initiative in contributing to a start-up friendly
climate in the North West, including for example the
University of Oldenburg. It rightly calls itself the start-up
university, working to foster talent, nourish the imagination
and inspire ideas. It has even been honoured as one
of Germany’s best start-up universities by the Federal
Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi) in the
national competition “EXIST start-up culture: the start-up
university”.
own business, thus also promoting the economic development
of the region at large”, said Professor Dr. Uwe
Schneidewind, President of the University back in 2005
when the chair was founded. Supportive measures for
conveying know-how, contacts and capital should help to
increase the number of innovative, growth-oriented startups.
Events offered for potential start-ups to share and develop
their ideas with like-minded individuals and experienced
entrepreneurs include for example the “Ideensofa
[IdeaJam]” (ideas couch), “IdeaJam [Expertlounge]” or
“Gründer[Space]” (space for start-ups). Students can
find practical inspiration in Entrepreneurship Schools
which give them an opportunity to work together with
scientists at their own business ideas. On the other hand,
the Incubator gives start-up teams the possibility of
putting their project to the test within a company context
for a trial period of maximum twelve months in order to
forge ahead and make progress.
All ideas need is a chance to flourish and develop. In
thought and in space. To go back to our original example:
the TGO offers tenants office and laboratory facilities between
17 and 33 square metres. And just down the road,
64 offices are available in the new Technology Park Oldenburg
with altogether 1,700 square metres of effective
surface area. Another seven hectares are to be made available
here in future. So there’s plenty of space for clever
minds and unconventional ideas.
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In order to establish a start-up friendly climate at the university,
a chair for “Entrepreneurship” has been endowed
here with financial aid among others from the CCI. “We
are now even better able to support the start-up activities
of students and young scientists wanting to launch their