The Regional Development Agency (ARR) is celebrating its 30th anniversary. At the time of its founding, it was one of the first development agencies in the Czech Republic and has gradually grown into a key expert organisation in the Liberec Region, serving as a partner to businesses, public institutions and citizens alike. Under one roof, it provides more than thirty services. From its original focus on grant advisory, it has expanded into support for entrepreneurship, digitalisation, science and research, while also continuing to value traditional crafts and tourism.
“Thanks to the close cooperation between the Liberec Region and the development agency, we are now able to offer the public a broad portfolio of services. Our goal is for ARR to be the first place a company, public institution or citizen turns to when they want to transform an idea into a meaningful project,” says Martin Půta, Governor of the Liberec Region.
ARR grew out of grant advisory and remains strong in this area to this day. Each year, it prepares projects that bring roughly half a billion Czech crowns in grant funding into the region. As the needs of the region have evolved in recent years, ARR has expanded its activities towards building a knowledge economy, supporting entrepreneurship, digitalisation, science and research, as well as cooperation between businesses and schools. At the same time, it helps shape the identity of the Liberec Region by supporting traditional crafts and, more recently, by taking on tourism related activities. In glassmaking alone, it helps bring more than 55,000 visitors to the region each year.
One place to get started
ARR has long positioned itself as a single point of contact where people, businesses and public institutions can come with their ideas and plans.
“Every year, we meet with clients more than 3,500 times through consultations, networking, educational events and other activities. In the Czech Republic, such a concentration of diverse services under one roof is truly unique,” explains Edvard Kožušník, Statutory Deputy Governor of the Liberec Region for Economic and Strategic Development.
More than 180 companies make use of the Lipo.ink business incubator, which operates under ARR, every year. Established competitions and programmes such as Business Talent, Liberec Ideathon and TechStarter attract more than 300 secondary school and university students annually. ARR’s development activities also reach international partners: at the NanoCzech conference, the agency brought together 25 diplomats from 16 countries with representatives of the Technical University of Liberec and nanotechnology companies.
At the other end of ARR’s activity spectrum are areas such as green space management and support for traditional crafts. Over the past seven years, ARR has implemented 45 projects and contributed to the planting of more than 4,700 new trees, most often in the form of tree lined roads. The Liberecký kraj sobě project, in turn, helps promote and educate more than 400 regional producers and craftspeople.
The anniversary will be marked by stories of successful clients
ARR’s anniversary will be commemorated by a 16.5 metre high comic style banner installed on the European House building and by the “30 years, 30 stories” campaign on the arr30.cz website.
“The most important element of the campaign marking the agency’s thirtieth anniversary will be our clients. We believe that when they succeed, it benefits the whole region,” says Petr Dobrovský, Managing Director of the Regional Development Agency. What gives him the greatest satisfaction are those who choose to pass their knowledge and experience back on to others.
One example is Dalibor Novák’s company Memory Crystal, a member of the Liberecký kraj sobě network, which recently took part in the PlatInn mentoring programme at Lipo.ink. “Today, Mr Novák is one of the lecturers in the Academy for Young Glassmakers and receives excellent feedback,” Dobrovský adds.
In the autumn, the anniversary celebrations will culminate in an open day at ARR’s headquarters in the European House and in a development conference organised by ARR and the Liberec Region, which will open a debate on the region’s direction in the years ahead.
