MEUSE-RHINE TRIANGLE PRIZES
[BIZ: Aachen, April 24] The winning companies were: on the German side, Quanta Computer, which came from Taiwan in 2004 to set up its European service center in Aachen. It currently employs 350 but this will grow to 1,000 in 2008. Hanssen Transmissions (originally from Antwerp) set up a production facility in 2004 in Lommel. It produces transmissions (cogwheel boxes) for windmills and employs 400. In 2006 it announced an expansion and a further 300 jobs. Hanssen was then chosen as the top company in Limburg (B), and Quanta in the Aachen region. Lyreco, a well-known supplier of office equipment in the B2B context also decided to establish its European distribution center in Vottem (near Liège) in 2004. It created 200 new jobs and added to the region’s logistical attractions. Solland Solar was the winner for the Netherlands Limburg. It set up in 2004 at Avantis, the cross-border business park between Heerlen and Aachen with its production facility for solar cells. It soon had 100 staff on its books and this is expected to grow to 500 jobs in 2010. The overall winner, when all regions are taken together, was the Ford Motor Company in Genk in Belgian Limburg. The Ford Motor Company has invested EUR 700m in new production lines and recently produced three new Ford models—including the prize-winning S-MAX. And in addition to retaining 5,000 jobs, Ford has created another 1,350 there. This selection shows the attractions of the Meuse-Rhine Triangle for inbound investment and the value of the EU-financed Heartbeat of Business in Europe, which is also supported by the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs, the Province of Liège, the Province of Limburg (B) and the organizing partners: development company AGIT from Aachen, SPI+ from Liège, the Province of Limburg (B) and LIOF for Limburg (NL). Before the prizes were awarded there were interesting introductions by Mart Dijk of LIOF on the future of Meuse-Rhine and the need for a news desk facility. There was also an extensive lecture on the problem of inter-cultural communication; and, Karl-Heinz Lambertz, Prime Minister of Belgium’s German-speaking region, then gave an example of how it should be done. He not only gave his presentation in English but also added some heartening words in German, Dutch and French in conclusion.
Top companies who have invested and set up in Meuse-Rhine were awarded prizes at Schloss Rahe in Aachen on April 24. The companies nominated were Sabic Europe in Sittard-Geleen) for Limburg (NL) and Sekisui Chemical, also in Sittard-Geleen. The third nomination for Limburg (NL) was Solland Solar at Avantis. The companies in the Aachen region were Quanta Computer Germany, Cardinal Health Germany and Microsoft Innovation Center. In Limburg (B) Hanssen Transmissions International, Ford and Scania; for Liège: CooperVision, Jyco and Lyreco were chosen.
http://www.hearbeatofbusiness.org/