Kujawsko-Pomorskie: Your path to success

Anyone can become an entrepreneur in today’s world. It only takes a few formalities to start your own business. However, the real challenge is creating a company that will make your dreams come true, ensuring financial and personal development. It is also important where the offered services or goods will find buyers or will be easily transportable elsewhere. You can have it all in the Kujawsko-Pomorskie province.

Why here?

This region has excellent transport connections with the rest of Poland. It neighbors on five provinces. National and international transport routes intersect here, so business has a good chance to succeed. The Kujawsko-Pomorskie is located in Pan-European Transport Corridor No. VI (Baltic-Adriatic), which connects Scandinavia with Italy and Slovenia. The A1 freeway connecting the north and south of Poland runs through the region, enabling efficient travel from one corner of the country to another. International railway lines intersect here as well: C-E 65 linking the northern and southern parts of the country, and line No. 353 running from the western to the eastern border of Poland. Air connections? The Ignacy Jan Paderewski International Airport lies within Bydgoszcz,

Toruń Technology Incubator, Photo Andrzej Goiński providing international flights as well as domestic flights to Warsaw. The airport makes the province an easily accessible destination for inhabitants of Poland, Europe, and distant parts of the world. With its very good transport connections and easy accessibility, not just regionally, the Kujawsko-Pomorskie province is a great place for setting up and running business operations.

We have an ace up our sleeve!

Actually, we have a whole deck of strong cards to convince you that it is worth launching your business in Kujawsko-Pomorskie. Why? For example, because of the availability of land: our region offers more than 2,500 hectares, with infrastructure, ready for development. The local authorities attach great importance to creating good conditions for economic development. The residents’ growing awareness and local-government initiatives favor local entrepreneurship and foreign investors, who can count on various forms of support. The provincial authorities are open to entrepreneurs. Over 196,000 business entities operate here, of which nearly 2,000 are companies with foreign capital. Companies such as Nokia (formerly Alcatel-Lucent), Atos, Nordzucker, Coca-Cola Hellenic Bottling Company, Mondi, Frosta, Lafarge, Nestle, Raben, DHL, Panattoni, PepsiAmericas, UMC, Orion, Neupack, Solvay, Indorama, Unilever, Bunge, Orkla, Lidl, and Opus Capita (formerly Itella) have decided to locate their projects in the region.

Support at the highest level

If you are a new entrepreneur, worried that you will not be able to start your business in the Kujawsko-Pomorskie province, you could not be more wrong. Read about the province’s investment offering, which will not only show you how you could develop your company, but also help you financially. The Regional Enterprise Incubators located in Toruń, Bydgoszcz and Włocławek provide entrepreneurs with modern office space on favorable terms, supporting them in administrative and legal matters. The province also boasts 23 subzones of the Pomeranian Special Economic Zone as well as industrial parks, industrial and technological parks, and technology transfer centers.

How do the provincial authorities come to the aid of company owners? Among other things, through a system of business support that includes the Investor Assistance Center (COI), which is a certified regional center created to actively support investments in the Kujawsko-Pomorskie province, providing all possible assistance and practical advice on investment. The COI is the first contact for domestic and foreign investors. Potential investors will be supported in identifying optimal investment opportunities thanks to the personal approach of a dedicated project manager. Future entrepreneurs will also find out what permits or administrative decisions they need, but also whether they can obtain financial support for investment placement or from public aid. The Investor Assistance Center will make it easier to arrange meetings with land and property owners as well as with local authorities. It will also help prepare an investment offer and provide post-investment after-care.

Money breeds money...

... and if you manage to save some, you will be able to invest it in your business’s development. You will be helped by property-tax and income-tax exemptions as well as job-creation breaks of up to 35% of the two-year labor costs of new employees. It should be noted that the Kujawsko-Pomorskie province offers one of the lowest employment costs in Poland. As part of government assistance, you will also receive funding from sector programs supporting entrepreneurship, innovation and technology development under the Smart Growth Regional Operational Program, the Innovative Economy Operational Program, and the Infrastructure and Environment Operational Program. The provincial authorities see to the region’s development also by offering entrepreneurs European funding from the Kujawsko-Pomorskie Regional Operational Program, financial support for newly created jobs offered to the unemployed and people with disabilities, a free recruitment process and an employee training system within support instruments from the Labor Office. The province also has a comprehensive support package that offers partial reimbursement of investment outlays or minimization of costs related to running a business, which will allow you to save and invest resources in your business’s further development. In the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, the province’s local government develops and implements its own systems of assistance for entrepreneurs, independent of national government assistance.

People don’t just live to work!

In the Kujawsko-Pomorskie province you will be able to enjoy centuries-old tradition, log out of the ubiquitous web, charge your batteries, and breathe deeply! Unique natural resources make this region attractive to yachtsmen, cyclists, canoeists and other enthusiasts of active leisure, and if you need to, you can recuperate at a local spa or one of the renowned hospitals. Remember: when you think about working or running your own business, you need to pay attention not only to prospects for development, but also to finding a place where you can tread your own path - including the path to success!

Bydgoszcz

Toruń