brandannual 2019

Leitbetriebe Austria
Leading Companies and Regions:
Eternal Loyalty
instead of a
ADMITTEDLY, SHORT FLINGS
HAVE A LOT GOING FOR
THEM. BUT RELATIONSHIPS
HAVE TO ENDURE THE TEST
OF TIME TO MAKE THEM
REALLY MEANINGFUL. AFTER
ALL, YOU WANT TO BUILD
SOMETHING TOGETHER.
While this is clearly true in
our private lives, it’s also
true in business. “Fast
business” is a lot like a
fling, but while it may be enjoyable
in the end business is really about
building stable, long-term working
relationships. This true in particular
of the relationship between business
locations and the active, leading companies
that have their home there.
“If you look at things a little superficially, you might
think that regionality is going to play an increasingly
minor role in the globalised, digitised economy”, says
Monica Rintersbacher, Managing Director of the excellence
platform Leitbetriebe Austria. “But the opposite
is actually true here. Companies in general and leading
companies in particular increasingly have to assert themselves
in a fierce, often global, competitive market. Strong,
stable and predictable framework conditions are essential
for this. Sustainable regions also need companies that
stay connected to their location for the long term, often
even across generations, and that sustain value creation,
jobs, and ultimately life opportunities.”
Hot Fling
Monica Rintersbacher
Managing Director
Leitbetriebe Austria
Foto: Sabine Klimpt
The close connection between
leading companies and the region is
particularly evident in the tourism
business, as the Scheiblhofer winery
in Burgenland Andau shows. In a
relatively underdeveloped region in
the border area with Hungary, the
innovative winemaker Erich Scheiblhofer,
who took over the winery
from his father, made the little place a
favourite among wine lovers thereby
enriching the economic power of
the entire region with the establishment
of his own wine event site and
guest house. “A business location is
also an environment. And we are
making a significant contribution to
the further development of this environment,
which ultimately benefits not only us, but our
neighbours, employees and guests as well.”
The framework conditions include much more than just
“classics” such as taxes, wages and ancillary wage costs or
working-hours regulations, which are largely determined
at the national level. Equally important for companies are
the modern and continuous development of infrastructure
(transport links, energy supply, data connections, etc.), a
cooperative approach to operating and factory permits
and, more than ever, the availability of skilled labour.
“However, ensuring favourable framework conditions
also pays off for the regions”, emphasises Rintersbacher.
“Leading companies think long term; they don't move
58 brandannual The Business and Investment Magazine