Clean transition investments are opening up new growth opportunities for the region’s companies for years to come. Now is the right time to ensure that your company’s expertise is visible when partners are being sought for projects.
NIHAK’s new Business Window service compiles together the expertise and services of regional companies for the use of actors implementing investment projects. The aim is to ensure that local companies are able to take part in the opportunities of large scale investments already at an early stage of project development.
Clean transition and related industrial investments are now moving from planning into implementation. In total, more than EUR 14 billion of investments are underway or planned in the region by 2032. The projects relate, among others, to biogas, hydrogen, solar and wind power, data centers, and industrial construction.
At present, investments worth over EUR 300 million are already under construction in NIHAK’s operating area, and during this year, new projects worth approximately EUR 800 million are expected to start.
– We want to ensure that as much as possible of the benefits from investments remain in the region. That is why it is important that local companies are involved when contractors and partners are being sought, says NIHAK Project Specialist Tuomas Sarjanoja.
Making regional expertise visible
NIHAK has already published the Data Window, which brings investment projects in the region visible. Business Window is the next step, which enables investors, project developers, and main contractors to find suitable partners and service providers from the region.
For the Business Window, NIHAK collects information from companies through a confidential survey. The survey maps out basic company information, services offered, interest in different projects, and a short description of the company’s expertise.
The information is used when project actors are looking for partners and services in the region. Companies of all sizes and from all sectors can register.
Investment projects create opportunities across many fields, such as earthworks and infrastructure, construction, electrical, automation and energy solutions, design and expert services, logistics, transport, installation services, as well as maintenance and support services.
– The Business Window helps us to make regional expertise visible to project developers. The better companies’ services and expertise are known, the easier it is to create new connections, Sarjanoja states.
Getting involved already in the preparation phase
NIHAK does not make decisions related to procurement or partner selection but acts as an impartial information broker between companies and project actors. The Business Window provides a good tool for this purpose.
Regional Development Director Kimmo Niskanen describes the approach with a practical example:
– If a project developer is looking for partners in the region, for example for medium-voltage network construction, our task is to identify potential service providers and forward the information. After that, the project developer contacts the companies and requests tenders.
Investment projects progress in phases, and information about projects in the development phase is not necessarily yet public. However, it is precisely at this stage that partners and service providers are actively sought through so-called silent procurement.
– Main contracts are often agreed already in the project development phase, but as the construction site progresses, smaller contracts and service needs also arise for local companies. Opportunities open up at different stages of the projects all the way to the operational phase of the facilities, says NIHAK CEO Toni Krankkala.
According to Krankkala, projects implemented in the region can also serve as a springboard to international networks for companies:
– Many investments involve international actors. When a local company becomes part of a project implemented here, it can also open doors to other projects in Finland and abroad. Working in these projects can be the start of a completely new growth phase for a company.
The right time to bring expertise forward
Bringing together regional expertise is important for the vitality of the entire region. Investments offer companies an exceptional growth opportunity far into the future in their own region.
– Now is the time to bring your company’s expertise forward. An unprecedented investment wave is underway, and we want to ensure that regional companies benefit from it as widely as possible. There is demand for expertise and workforce across many different sectors, Kimmo Niskanen summarizes.
The Business Window is part of NIHAK’s long-term work aimed at ensuring that clean transition investments benefit regional companies and employment as widely as possible.
This work has been carried out, among other things, through the ongoing Green Deal project. During the project, permanent tools such as the Data Window have been developed for business services, and information has been produced on the progress of investments and emerging service needs in projects. At the same time, the capacity of regional companies to participate in procurement competitions has been strengthened.
The goal is that clean transition investments do not remain isolated projects, but are directly linked to regional business activity, employment, and long-term development.
LINK TO THE BUSINESS WINDOW SURVEY (In Finnish only)
Q&A (in Finnish only)
