The Association of Science and Technology Parks of Spain (APTE) has given the ”best practice in science and technology parks of 2018” award to the Business Factory Auto initiative.
This award recognizes the best practices developed by the park managers in their area of activity. In this case, the best practice award has been given to the Business Factory Auto initiative, promoted by the Consortium of the Free Zone of Vigo, which manages the Vigo Technology Park. The award assesses the innovative aspect of the initiative and its impact on the entities of the Park and its surroundings.
In 2018, the fifth edition of these awards is held, which has two categories: one for parks less than 10 years old and the other for those with more than 10 years old. The Technological Park of Vigo participates in this second modality.
The APTE 2018 awards ceremony was held on November 22 in Avilés (Asturias), on the XVI International Conference of the Association. The person in charge of collecting the prize was the project manager of the Business Auto Business, Jorge Gómara, who thanked the support of all the promoters of the initiative and especially the Consortium of the Free Zone of Vigo for facilitating the use of its facilities to the companies of the BFA.
In his speech, Jorge Gómara highlighted the value of the BFA as an initiative that ”promotes the culture of industrial entrepreneurship and contributes to create highly qualified employment and improve the competitiveness of the Galician automotive industry”.
The BFA is an example of collaboration. This project is promoted by: two institutions, the Xunta de Galicia and the Consorcio de la Zona Franca de Vigo; two agencies, Igape and GAIN; two venture capital companies, Xesgalicia and Vigo Activo, and the Sector represented by Groupe PSA and the project leader, the Automotive Cluster of Galicia (CEAGA). Precisely, one of the keys to the success of the Business Factory Auto is the involvement of the entire Sector, since the companies of CEAGA tutoring and offering their facilities to validate the new technologies of the projects.
The results of the two final editions of the BFA and the third edition, which just started in October, indicate a very positive balance, with 35 companies created, more than 150 jobs generated and 10 million euros of turnover expected at the end of the year. 30% of these companies already export their products or services.