”Moving to Jyväskylä was easy”

Many areas are interested in growth enterprises and offer them incentives to become established. International players are attracted to the Jyväskylä Region by world-class magnets and held in place by an excellent infrastructure.

One foreigner who has set up in business in Jyväskylä is Canadian Ted St. John. The man from Vancouver established FinnTest Engineering Oy, a company providing measuring equipment and services to the paper industry, whose operations got under way in the summer of 2004. St. John developed a test method and equipment and offered these to Metso Paper. Metso Paper is one of the leading suppliers of paper, tissue, board and pulp manufacturing lines worldwide.

”I had absolutely nothing agreed at the time I was planning my own business, but I knew there was a demand for this kind of service”, St. John recalls.

St. John has over 30 years experience of the paper industry. He has worked in mills and as a consultant to the same. His first encounter with Finnish business life he experienced while working as Product Manager for Valmet in Kotka.

Enterprise, training and research all in one

One-man FinnTest Engineering is a fine example of todayÂ’s business world: a large company attracts new small firms into its area.

Project Manager Samuel Koivisto of Jyväskylä Science Park is firmly of the opinion that business growth presupposes magnets in the Jyväskylä Region which can draw business activity to the area and the necessary adhesive to keep the new arrivals in place. The magnet may be provided by a major international company, just like Metso Paper.

”We can create large clusters and pursue firms suitable for them. In addition to bringing large and small firms together we can link training and research activity to the clusters”, says Koivisto. In his view the ”adhesive” in the Jyväskylä region is currently provided among other things by the high level of expertise in the ICT branch, technology connected to the manufacture of paper, as well as energy, wellness and nanotechnology.

Firms boost the regionÂ’s image

St. John emphasises that making the move from Canada to Finland was easy. Adjusting to the new surroundings was naturally aided by his Finnish wife, who also started her own business in the Jyväskylä Region. Familiar faces were not the only factor, however, contributing to successful adaptation.

”The business culture in Finland is similar to that in Canada. The climate and social relationships don’t differ a lot either”, St. John points out. He sees a business environment developing in Jyväskylä which is supported by a highly educated and multilingual workforce.

In addition to the fact that there is a desire to attract further international business activity to the Jyväskylä Region, the area’s own firms are being encouraged to internationalize. Indeed Koivisto stresses that creation of a favourable operating environment also involves meeting the expectations of local firms.

”Companies that enjoy global success are the best enhancers of the Jyväskylä Region’s image.” Attracting new players to the area may send a shiver down the spine of old-established local firms who are afraid that competition will tighten further. Koivisto, however, takes the view that foreign companies setting up in the Jyväskylä Region reinforce and boost the existing clusters. According to the Project Manager developing areas need outside experts who can give the area added value. A company that becomes established in the Jyväskylä Region brings with it a host of links to international markets which in turn boosts the opportunities of Finnish firms.

By Tommi Salo Photos by Petteri Kivimäki