Description
Lower Austrian Economic Chamber
The Lower Austrian Economic Chamber (WKNÖ) was founded in 1946. lt is the sole legal body representing the interests of the economy in the largest Austrian federal province. lt has more than 107.000 active members and offers its service to them at the headquarters in St. Pölten as well as at 20 regional offices and 3 branch offices.
The Chamber is divided into 7 divisions which in turn are subdivided into 95 specialised sectors (specialised sections, guilds, committees and specialised representatives) which act as representatives and consultants in their respective specialised fields.
Special Services:
· Institute for Economic Promotion (WIFI )
3500 training courses for more than 40 000 participants offer a wide range of vocational training and further education from craftsmanship to business management and academic education (New Design University at St. Pölten). "In-house trainings" complete the variety of offers in order to meet the needs of companies. The specialized staff elaborates individual training plans according to the requests of the customer to increase the use of blended learning and e-learning elements in order to enable the participants to learn independently regardless of time or location.
· Partnership for Technology and Innovation (TIP)
The provincial government and WKNÖ have joined forces to form TIP to facilitate contacts between companies and research facilities. TIP offices established by WKNÖ assist the companies and give advice about new trends and technologies, project financing, sponsoring and marketing.
· Start-up Service
There are approximately 7 800 business startup’s per year in Lower Austria. The start-up service is the drop-in centre per se for start-ups in Lower Austria.
Being part of the Danube Chambers of Commerce Federation gives the Economic Chamber of Lower Austria a chance to co-operate with regional Chambers of Commerce in the Danube region and to promote the European Danube Strategy. In order to make the potentials of the Danube region more visible, we are working together with our partners to realize these common goals.