Start-ups are sexy. They imagine the future, bring us disruptive tech- nologies, new applications and great new talent. Every single city or region is chasing them with bootcamps, accelerators, incuba- tors and foreign trips. Apparently, the next hype has arrived: who doesn't want to welcome the new TomTom, Google or Alibaba to his backyard? But are foreign start-ups really that easy to attract? What's the definition of a start-up anyway? And what will they eventually add to the equation of local economic growth and employment? Here's a reality check and your wake-up call.

Read the entire blog (in Dutch)

Although Gouda is famous for its cheese, the city has so much more to offer, especially to expan- ding businesses. In order to fur- ther professionalize the process of attracting companies to its area, the city asked ARCUSplus to identify new target groups, to de- velop the marketing and acqui- sition strategy, and to design a pro-active approach with regards to reaching out to potential and current investors, mainly focusing on office functions. These plans are being implemented as we speak.

City of Gouda (Gouds aanbod - in Dutch) 

In the western part of the Dutch province of Brabant, many organi-sations are actively involved in the development of the regional bio- based economy. In order to create a tight-knit cooperation between these several initiatives, and to bundle the efforts with regards to acquisition, Brabant Development Agency requested our firm to prepare and moderate a workshop last December, with representatives present of BOM Foreign Investments, BOM Capital, Biobased Delta, REWIN West-Brabant, Port of Moerdijk, Green Chemistry Campus (SABIC), Nieuw Prinsenland (SuikerUnie), Province of Noord-Brabant and the city of Bergen op Zoom. Next steps will be planned shortly.

BOM Foreign Investments

In close cooperation with its part- ners, Alkmaar has been very ac- tive and succesful in the past in attracting and retaining companies for the city. For the next few years it is the municipality's ambition to increase the number of corporate investors into its area by further improving the quality of marketing and acquisition. ARCUS plus was requested to take a close look at the current organisation and come forward with suggestions for a better future structure and approach.

City of Alkmaar (in Dutch)

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