Experience Burgenland with all your senses

Touch soft terry cloth, smell and taste hemp, hear better with little helpers – three best practice examples from the East of Austria.

We looked around all of Burgenland for three “business ambassadors” and picked a company from the North, the South and the centre each. In the North we went to Gols, in the centre to Grafenschachen and in the South to Jennersdorf. One company is a bit older – a classic company with long heritage, one is in its prime, so to speak, and one is an up-and coming youngster.

Terry cloth from Jennersdorf

The chance to have come across a product from this company is quite high, particularly as a tourist, as upmarket hotels swear by them. Please meet Vossen, one of Europe’s leading producers of terry cloth and the best-known terry cloth brand in Austria and Germany.

Every year, the company produces more than six million premium products such as towels, bath towels, dressing gowns and bathroom rugs. Vossen has been producing its products in Jennersdorf for more than 50 years and the site has been chosen purposely, the company says. Every year, several tonnes of yarn are turned into terry cloths in a state-ofthe-art factory, which are then exported to 40 countries all around the world. Vossen puts lots of emphasis on quality, innovation, international designs and environmental sustainability, the company stresses. All Vossen products get their unique quality from the revolutionary AIRpillow technology, which dissolutes the twist of the fibre structure and re-orients the fibres.

Even though there are terry cloths in all colours possible, they are all “green”, so to speak. Vossen uses 100 percent renewable energies from wind, water, biomass and sun for the production of its cloths. “Our products are made in the heart of Europe and the raw materials don’t travel far. We have an above-average low carbon footprint,” the management proudly says.

Perfect mild climate for plants from the cannabaceae family

Cultivating hemp has a long-standing tradition in Europe. For a few years now, industrial hemp is making a comeback and the world is becoming aware once more of its positive attributes. One of them is increasing mental and physical well-being. “When people think of hemp they often only think of THC (tetrahydrocannabinol), which is intoxicating in larger amounts,” says Andrea Bamacher, founder of Deep Nature Project. “Our products contain only small doses of THC, staying well under the legal limit of 0.2 percent. Our ecofoods only focus on the unique flavour and contribute to a balanced diet.” The Austrian hemp pioneer Deep Nature Project GmbH

Photo: Deep Nature Project Hemp is making a comeback thanks to Andrea Bamacher, founder of Deep Nature Project

Fluffy terry cloth from Fossen

from Gols has been operating since 2015, making certified and strictly controlled eco hemp products – premium eco foods and eco hemp extracts (CBD/CBFG) under the trademarks Medihemp and Vetrihemp. Cooperating with farmers in Austria, Germany and Croatia, the company cultivates industrial hemp on 510 hectares, harvests it with the latest technology and processes it with care. Its products are sold in almost 30 countries around the globe and are subject to both internal and external regular checks.

Deep Nature Project is one of Europe’s leading producers of eco hemp and nutritional supplements. The company has a fully integrated eco-certified and controlled added value process. It has grown from five to 70 staff in the last five years and is thus an important employer in the region. Deep Nature Project is available in 27 European countries either online or through 250 distribution partners.

The company also won the Burgenland Economic Chamber’s award as the province’s most family-friendly business 2019/20 in the category medium-sized enterprises. Deep Nature Project won thanks to its flexible work time models such as job sharing, partial retirement, allowing employees to chose their work days, work time based on trust, mobile working, home office, saving up work time, unpaid holidays for family reasons and an employee assistance programme. There, every employee can select coaches from a list and use their services. Deep Nature Project also tries to help parents as much as possible with child care by offering the opportunity to reclaim accumulated overtime, temporary home office, taking child care into account when planning holidays and even allowing parents to take children to the office. “Combining family life and work life is a huge challenge for mothers and fathers in Burgenland’s rural regions,” says Andrea Gottweis, Head of the Trade Department at the Burgenland Economic Chamber and co-founder of the award.

Andrea Bamacher also received the Burgenland Regionality Prize 2019, which is awarded every year for outstanding entrepreneurial achievements.

Being based in Burgenland is considered both a trademark and

Photo: Deep Nature Project

Deep Nature Project constantly checks its products at its in-house labs.

a seal of quality by Deep Nature Project. The company sees collaborations with other businesses from the province as a driver of innovation for a successful future.

Hearing well with technology from Southern Burgenland

BHM manufactures premium hearing aids in Grafenschachen, which are made 100 percent in Austria and sold all around the world. The acronym stands for Berl Hörgeräte Manufaktur and signifies a success story that started with the production of spare parts for hearing aids in 2002.

BHM’s core competence is the further development and manufacturing of bone conduction hearing systems for various applications, offering users e.g. with hearing glasses big advantages compared to other systems. Bone conduction systems receive and amplify sound waves, transforming them into vibrations that are forwarded directly to the cranial bone. The vibrations are perceived by the cochlea (the portion of the inner ear shaped like a small shell) as tones, with any obstructions in the middle or outer ear being circumvented.

Hearing glasses based on bone conduction technology are considered the perfect aid for people who not only need help hearing but also need help seeing. They are personalised solutions for those who do not want a hearing aid in the ear or who cannot have one for medical or physical reasons.

BHM is a valuable alternative to surgery for children with hearing deficiencies as children quickly need to be able to hear in order to develop their speech. The company developed the world’s first digital miniature bone conduction hearing system. It is simply integrated into headwear such as caps, hairbands and the likes.

Furthermore, BHM also manufactures state-of-the-art components for hearing implants and prostheses. The company is a trailblazer in hearing aids and precision components in the medical-technological field, developing and manufacturing high-tech micro components right from the start. The long-standing experience and quest for perfection makes BHM one of the world’s most-renowned specialists for bone conduction and air conduction hearing systems. ◆

Business location Burgenland

Austria’s easternmost province is in a great position to become the country’s most dynamic economic region. This is not only down to the EU’s positive effects – Burgenland’s typical strengths are its greatest asset.

The last few weeks and months had a massive impact on our lives. The health-related crisis management had a drastic effect on people and businesses, on jobs and turnovers.

But in the face of all this, Burgenland has so far managed to overcome the Covid crisis and its resulting effects well. Burgenland is in a good position and has surely benefitted from the EU accession like no other Austrian province. This is reflected by numerous key data. But still, Burgenland is economically weak, especially in the South where transport and broadband infrastructure is lacking. The North, however, which is part of the so-called “Vienna Region”, is faring much better. That means that you have to differentiate when you talk about the province of Burgenland.

Burgenland’s business data

c 18,870 active members at the Economic Chamber c 2,608 apprentices c 777 companies where apprentices are trained c 3,092,657 overnight stays c Thereof 2,418,051 in commercial enterprises c about 1,200 business establishments per year c 108,549 wage earners

Burgenland Economic Chamber Robert-Graf-Platz 1, 7000 Eisenstadt Tel. +43 5 90 907 2000 wkbgld@wkbgld.at wko.at/bgld

There is no doubt that the economic upswing and the special quality of life in Burgenland are connected to the 20,000 entrepreneurs in the province. They safeguard jobs, incomes and the necessary taxes for health care, education and social security, for infrastructure, the public administration etc.

Therefore, great conditions regarding the business location are the basis for the success of these companies and thus our prosperity. There is a number of key issues that affect all businesses the same in the North, the centre and the South: transport infrastructure (both roads and railways), the expansion of digital infrastructure, the lack of apprentices and skilled workers, services from the province’s authorities and a reduction of red tape, and quality of life as a location factor.

Identity, self-image, public image

Facts first: Burgenland is Austria’s easternmost province with a 400-kilometre long border. It has a flat, sometimes hilly and rarely mountainous topography. There are seven districts, 171 communities, three regions, four languages, thousands of little facets and even more loveable peculiarities.

Today, Burgenland is Austria’s province with the highest economic growth. In 2017, the gross regional product (GRP) went up by 3 percent ensuring excellent economic growth.

Since 2012, Burgenland has recorded the highest economic growth of all provinces four times. Since the EU accession in 1995, Burgenland’s GRP went up from 3.8 billion euros to 8.2 billion euros in 2016.

Success came about in the most various areas: Burgenland has now the highest ratio of school-leavers with university qualifications in Austria. Early on, the province banked on wind energy and is now self-sufficient at peak times. This makes Burgenland a role model for all of Europe.

Subsidies

Business subsidies aim to improve the competitiveness of Burgenland’s economy. The idea is to boost operational and regional competitiveness by opening up new customer groups.

Honorary Consul Peter Nemeth, President of the Burgenland Economic Chamber, is working hard every day for Burgenland’s positive economic future.

The priority is on improving the strategic and target-group-oriented focus of businesses by bringing existing and new products and services onto new markets. Playing by the rules, i.e. a level playing field, is an essential issue, however.

Generally speaking, Burgenland’s assets need to be put in the limelight and problem areas need to be tackled in order to take the next step in making it Austria’s most pro-business province.

Specific issues

c Fair checks and the same rules for all (cross-border services) c Improving and safeguarding the quality of life c High-quality jobs near residential areas c Land use planning and regional development c Connecting Clusters in Burgenland and beyond its borders

Future topics

Burgenland can become Austria’s most dynamic economic region with clever and sustainable regional development. The high quality of life and listening to the needs of the population are the key for this.

Policy-makers, the administration, businesses and people need to focus on this. Being proactive, having new ideas and concepts for the future, digitisation and new sectors – all this is needed more than ever. But typical attributes associated with Burgenland are also of high importance: hard work, thirst for knowledge, the willingness to create something but also the appreciation for the bright side of life and sustaining a high quality of life in a faster and faster developing world are becoming essential location factors.