European Commission - Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs

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Company development

Region
POLSKA›MAKROREGION WSCHODNI›Podkarpackie
Title of measure
Full title in national language:
Dotacje bezpośrednie dla firm
Duration:
2016 to 2020
Policy objectives Plus
4.1. Direct funding to business R&D and innovation
Presentation of the measure:

According to the diagnosis presented in the Regional Operational Programme for Podkarpackie for 2014-2020 in the economy of the Podkarpackie region one can still observe the inter-sectoral differences in the scale of nnovation-related investments, as well as a negative trend presenting a decrease of the share of the innovative companies in the overall population of regional companies. As a consequence, the regional decision makers have identified as necessary the implementation of the schemes providing financial support to regional companies. The measure “Direct support for companies”, which has been implemented in the form of a grant scheme 1.4.1. in the framework of the Regional Operational Programme for Podkarpackie for 2014-2020, is one of abovementioned actions set-up by the regional authorities to improve the economic conditions in Podkarpackie. According to the Regional Operational Programme, the key objective of this measure is to stop the decline in the numbers of innovative companies. To this end, the following activities undertaken by the companies from Podkarpackie region were included as eligible for funding:

  • Investments in machinery and equipment, necessary for successful preparation and implementation on the market of the new or significantly improved products or services (with the exclusion of the projects aimed only on the modernisation of the production infrastructure). The preferences are given to projects, based on the implementation of the companies' own R&D activity results;
  • Investments for start-ups (companies existing not more than 24 months) with the aim to set-up the business activity in the e-market sector along with the B2B (Business to Business), B2C (Business to Consumer) or C2C (Customer to Customer) business models.  

The total allocation of the measure amounts to €165m, and the eligible beneficiaries are micro- and small companies in the case of the support for the e-market activity development, and SMEs in the case of other projects.

Keywords:
Applied business research
Knowledge transfer
Small and medium-sized enterprises
Budget, source and type of funding
Year20162017201820192020
National public funds
Regional public funds
EU Structural Funds
Private funds
Other
Form of funding provided
Grants
Policy learning
To what extent the measure can be considered as a success and worthy of policy learning?:
The measure has achieved its intended targets in terms of results (e.g. number of enterprises investing in innovative projects, people trained)
Evidence of outcomes based on evaluation and other evidence:

The mid-term evaluation of the Regional Operational Programme for Podkarpackie for 2014-2020 revealed that the 2023 outcome indicator target for this measure (e.g. ‘The number of the newly created workplaces in the supported companies’) has been already achieved and surpassed. However, as the evaluation noted, the calculation should be treated carefully as the increase in workplaces created is likely to have been so positive due to the good economic situation.
 

What are the most important “Do’s and Don’ts” that regional stakeholders should be aware of when launching a similar measure?:

The mid-term evaluation of the Regional Operational Programme for Podkarpackie for 2014-2020 highlighted that the implementation of the measure was systematic and well thought-out. The grants for the companies were allocated in five call till date, each with a different thematic focus and intended beneficiary. For instance, the first and the fifth calls were directed at support granted within the regional investment policy, the second call focused on de minimis aid, and the third was dedicated to IT projects. 

Would you recommend this measure as an example of regional good practice to policy-makers from other regions ?:
Yes
Organisation(s) responsible
Marshal Office of the Podkarpackie Region
Evaluation report(s)
Raport_końcowy.pdf (3.25 MB)