New momentum for the region around Dessau and Kothen: The Anhalt University of Applied Sciences start-up center wants to boost rural areas

Kothen –

Not everything is bad about Corona. At least if you think the director of Anhalt University of Applied Sciences, Christian Schön. Above all, it monitors the economic and social changes associated with the pandemic.

In his view, the actual crisis has caused a recovery in rural areas. In the context of Corona, digitization became more important, new job opportunities were created and a kind of civil aviation began. Startups are creating jobs. And they, in turn, keep families in the area.

The launch event of the “Smart Rural Establishment” project

On the weekend, the virtual event for the “Smart Rural Business” project was held. The project from the start-up center of Anhalt University of Applied Sciences has been around for six months. As the project title suggests, the goal is to make setting up businesses in rural areas more attractive.

For years, our region has been viewed as “structurally weak, outdated and lacking in innovation,” explains Christian Schön, head of the Startup Center at Anhalt University of Applied Sciences. This is now changing increasingly. “Nobody can evaluate Corona, but it has given rural areas a huge boost,” explains Joerg Pagdan, president of Anhalt University of Applied Sciences, in a hypothetical conversation. He also praised the new university law.

As a result, professors can be laid off from teaching for a period of six months in order to actively join a company and help with their knowledge during this period.

The project aims to build a large community in the long run

The project is funded by the federal government with 2 million euros. Good amount. “It’s a great project. That’s exactly what we need right now,” Prime Minister Rainer Hasilov (CDU) explains at the opening ceremony. The meaning and purpose of the university is also to train the next generation of rural areas.

The prime minister of Saxony-Anhalt knows: “I see young people with excellent training, but the bigger companies pull people away.” The goal is to keep people here, so find them and invest.

The project aims to build a large community in the long run. There are indeed many actors in the region, but they are not yet adequately networked. “We want to strengthen the founders and enable better access,” said the head of the startup center.

A youth center can also be built in Köthen

Sebastian Romberg from Dessau-Roslau is someone who reports on his current project in the region. The project is called: “Entrepreneurs Villages Anhalt” – “Eva” for short. The management consultant wants to attract people from the startup and IT sectors to the region and help them start a business. “The area around Dessau offers it all: culture, fast internet and good infrastructure,” Romberg said.

The start-up center is in contact with Köthen. There are initial considerations for setting up a budding youth center here. “The lack of skilled workers, the isolation, the loneliness – these are the things that are happening right now. It is time for improvement to create new possibilities,” explains Gerald Swart of the Fraunhofer Institute. (M g)