Promoting a strong future economy: sow today, reap tomorrow

Steinbeis experts Ursula Schulz and Jana Tisch interview economic development practitioners Susanne Orlowski, Alexander Stengelin and Henriette Stanley

Startups and business succession are key to a strong future economy, and promoting them is thus one of the traditional activities of local economic development organizations. The eleven partners in Gründergarten Schwarzwald-Baar-Heuberg (SBH) work together to foster startups in the region. In 2024, the area covered by the network was once again awarded “startup-friendly” status. The network’s founders include bwcon and the Steinbeis Consulting Center for Acquisition & Succession. They run various initiatives to support founders, including a founders’ camp, innovation lab and business succession bootcamp. For this edition of TRANSFER, Ursula Schulz (Steinbeis Consulting Center) and Jana Tisch (bwcon) spoke to Susanne Orlowski (Villingen-Schwenningen local economic development agency), Alexander Stengelin (Rottweil local economic development agency) and Henriette Stanley (economic development agency for the SBH region). They discussed the challenging and gratifying aspects of everyday economic development practice.

 

Ursula Schulz: Why are you involved in the Gründergarten SBH startup network?

Henriette Stanley: Innovation is key to a strong future economy in our Schwarzwald-Baar-Heuberg region. Startups and young businesses bring new technologies, services and business models that strengthen the region’s competitiveness. Gründergarten SBH is an important ecosystem for supporting startups, not only with infrastructure, but with knowledge, networks and financial advice, too.

Alexander Stengelin: Local economic development agencies are supposed to cover lots of different areas. But we only have limited resources, so we can’t do everything we’d like to in every area. That said, I regard startups as very important. For us at the Rottweil economic development agency, being part of a network – with all its events, know-how and contacts – is something that allows us to offer our startups a really good service.

Susanne Orlowski: It’s vital to have all the startup services, information and experts on a single platform. I’ve lost count of the number of times people have told me how they wish they’d known they could go to the economic development agency rather than having to find everything out for themselves. Ideally, we need to connect with business founders before they even start their business.

Jana Tisch: What are the pros and cons of collaboration between municipalities?

Alexander Stengelin: I can almost only see benefits. On our own, we’d never have been able to provide something with the breadth and depth of the Gründergarten ecosystem in our town. The only possible drawback I can imagine is if a founder from Rottweil decided to start their business in another location that they’d found through Gründergarten. But even then, I’d take it in good spirits and accept that the other location was simply a better fit for the startup.

Susanne Orlowski: We shouldn’t take an insular approach to startups. As a center for the entire region, we can offer a wide range of alternatives so startups can find the premises that best meet their needs. I don’t see any downsides – just advantages that contribute to a strong region, something all our municipalities benefit from.

Henriette Stanley: There are 76 municipalities in the Schwarzwald-Baar-Heuberg region. Getting everyone on board and catering to all their different interests obviously involves an enormous amount of coordination and organization. Having said that, it’s the right approach for a strong regional economy like ours. You can achieve so much more by joining forces than by going it alone! We leverage synergies through our network wherever possible. As the regional economic development organization, we are in close contact with all the local economic development officers or – in their absence – in direct contact with the mayors. This allows us to share expertise and provide extensive support as widely as possible. Personally, I’m a huge fan of collaboration between municipalities and wouldn’t swap it for a different model.

Ursula Schulz: What issues do founders come to you with?

Susanne Orlowski: We usually get founders who have an idea for a startup but don’t really know how to put their vision into practice, or people who are looking for suitable premises for their business. In these cases, we act as a consultant and bring in the relevant experts from our network. They also often need planning regulation advice concerning the use of their desired premises.

Alexander Stengelin: The most common reason for people initially contacting us is to find premises for their business. But that’s a bit late in the day, if you ask me. They’re quite far on in their journey by that point and have often already started the business in their garage or living room. I’d like to see people who want to start a business come to their economic development agency earlier on in the process so we can offer them support either ourselves or through Gründergarten.

Jana Tisch: Is there a particular startup story that has stuck in your memory?

Susanne Orlowski: Yes, I think it was about 15 years ago when a female founder called and said “I urgently need premises, the sooner the better. I’ve got murderers sitting around my kitchen table when my kids come through the door.” I was pretty taken aback at first. But it turns out she had started a business as a violence prevention trainer. Today, she employs eleven people at her own premises, works as a coach and speaker for clients including schools and the police, runs seminars and writes books. She works with families, young people and children, and her work begins where others give up. It just goes to show that it’s not only technology startups that are important for the economy and society as a whole. She has become a familiar face at the meetings of our WirtschaftsFrauen VS network for female founders and entrepreneurs and a regular speaker at our Women in Business Day. Networking and expanding your horizons are extremely important, particularly during this phase.

Henriette Stanley: I admire all founders for their courage, their ideas and their perseverance. I think every startup idea is interesting, whether it’s an ultra hi-tech AI application or opening a café. Take Suezen Lekkerey’s Yvonne Steeb, for example. We spent ages trying to find the right premises for her and just couldn’t come up with anything suitable. Yvonne simply got on with it and changed tack by starting with a pop-up café. Her witch’s cottage café has since found a permanent home in Rottweil’s market hall.

Alexander Stengelin: It’s all about the people – the guys who want to start a business. They have an idea and want to see it through, come what may – and that’s just how it should be. But sometimes – in most cases, actually – things don’t initially go to plan. It’s what happens next that matters. Do they learn from the situation? Do they try to work out what went wrong? Do they re-evaluate the idea, how they went about things and their decisions, or do they throw in the towel?

Ursula Schulz: Business succession is an attractive alternative to starting a new business. How do your economic development agencies help businesses and/or founders to find opportunities?

Henriette Stanley: According to IfM Bonn, by 2027 there will be 560,000 businesses in Germany looking for someone to take over the reins. Due to our strong SME sector and numerous family businesses, the issue of business succession affects a lot of companies in the Schwarzwald-Baar-Heuberg region. In 2024, Gründergarten SHB launched several new initiatives in this area. The business succession bootcamp brings potential successors and entrepreneurs together and shares know-how about financing options, legal questions and strategic business management. We also offer individual consulting and matching services. The Chamber of Commerce and Industry is a particularly active Gründergarten partner in this area.

Jana Tisch: Alexander, the theme of the last Innovation Night was “Starting a business: the unvarnished truth”. What were you getting at with this title?

Alexander Stengelin: Before I started working for local government twelve years ago, I had my own startup for nine years – well, several actually. So I’m very familiar with the day-to-day reality for “bootstrap” founders. All outsiders see is whether the business succeeds or fails – that’s what they judge it on. People often don’t realize the problems, challenges, setbacks, minor triumphs and above all the incredibly long hours that it involves. There’s a tendency to just talk about the “winners” and “losers”. Only those of us who support founders truly know the incredible journey that each and every one of them goes on.