The primary purpose of the project is to work out the methods and aid instruments enhancing competitiveness and innovation of SMEs on the side of local governments acting as part of a multi-level management with the province’s government and its institutions. In 2019, a consortium composed of the Kujawsko-Pomorskie Province, the SGH Warsaw School of Economics and the Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń embarked on implementation of the REGIOGMINA project, whose main purpose is support or entrepreneurship in the Kujawsko-Pomorskie Province. The project received financing from state funds as part of the “GOSPOSTRATEG: Social and Economic Development of Poland in Globalising Markets” Strategic Programme implemented by the National Centre for Research and Development. The project comprises two stages: the research stage, which was completed on 31 July 2020 and the subsequent stage consisting in preparation of study results for implementation, which will last until the end of 2021.
A diagnosis of the condition and analysis of the potential of the region’s economy, preparation of a methodology of local economic programmes of gminas, drafting a set of tools aligned to the needs and features of a region and putting together substantive contribution to the Programme of Economic Development of the Province as the basis for comprehensive activities aimed at economic activation, allowing for coordination of activities of numerous participants in the formula of multi-level region management make up the stipulated purposes of the research stage of the REGIOGMINA project.
Correct identification of the endogenous potential of the region, its society, entrepreneurship and main areas of operation of enterprises form the basis for designing instruments in development policy. In the research stage of the REGIOGMINA project, four tasks were completed; the first two referred to the diagnosis of the current condition of the region’s economy, whereas the subsequent two tasks comprised studies of selected elements of the region’s economy and on this basis, as well as on the basis of data from prior tasks, proposals of planning and institutional solutions were drafted for the local governments and the province’s self-government. As part of the research stage, a method of identification of businesses in the scale of the region was prepared by making use of the information about SMEs from databases compiled by state administrators. Subsequently, statistical and econometric analyses for small and medium-sized enterprises were carried out, as a result of which the current picture of the SME status was attained, presenting competitiveness, innovation, productivity and cooperation relations among micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, which allowed for procurement of data about the development potential of companies in a local and regional approach, as well as the current demand for aid (task 2).
With the use of structured surveys for groups of entrepreneurs, local governments and aid institutions that were identified, deficits in the area of knowledge and existing experiences on the side of local governments, entrepreneurs and institutions were determined with respect to the application of the existing aid instruments and on this basis, proposals of new instruments were worked out, as well key areas necessitating intervention in the realm of changes of legal regulations were defined (task 3). The substantive contribution to the Economic Development Programme, worked out as part of the last task of the research stage of the project (task 4), which constitutes the basis for comprehensive studies for the benefit of economic activation and coordination of activities of numerous participants in the formula of multi-level management of the region will allow for incorporating the proposals of solutions supporting the enterprise sector, implemented as part of the project including, in particular, the SMEs, cooperation as part of the sector, capital aid and activities aimed at sourcing new investors and investments for the region along with assistance for the local companies in development of export and innovation activities.