The German Association for small and medium sized businesses BVMW represents around 3.3 million individual enterprises in all. They call them – and they truly are – the backbone and impulse of the German economy. Through BVMW and its Country Representatives the 3.3 million members are represented globally, but with the impulse often spreading out locally.
A BVMW-member in the “Bergische Triangle” – the cities Remscheid, Solingen and Wuppertal – who has a long standing private interest in Ireland and a curiosity about Ireland as a place for BVMW-members to do business, approached COWORKATIONERS wanting to hear more about business-opportunities in Ireland. Our first briefing was a general overview on the Irish economy, including its reliance on multinational companies from the US (and challenges presented by Donald Trump’s second term), but also the sheer endless pipeline of indigenous Irish companies looking to do business in the important EU-market Germany. We also introduced various business-supporting state- and semi state-bodies, universities as well as clusters in sectors like Digital Health or Marine that are being developed around the universities, but naturally also the Irish BVMW counterpart ISME. The second briefing by COWORKATIONERS was for Ralf Lange, the BVMW-representative for the UK and Ireland. Donald Trump featured in that meeting again, but we all agreed that within all the disruption lies an opportunity for the UK and Ireland (and by extension the EU) to grow closer again, which can only be good for SMEs. A roadmap was agreed where COWORKATIONERS would approach ISME on behalf of the BVMW with a view to establish a partnership.
COWORKATIONERS then met with Damien Heffernan, who is ISME’s Marketing & Partnerships Manager. Damien was delighted to hear about BVMW’s proposal of a partnership between the two SME-associations: “That’s a no-brainer for us.”
Initially, the first trips were envisaged for 2025, but with Ireland holding the EU Presidency in 2026 it was agreed to use that momentum and schedule the first trips next year. COWORKATIONERS will put the packages together, including individual meetings tailored for the business-need of each member of the travelling parties.