Interview with innovative makers

Website www.innovativ-macher.de puts Münsterland entrepreneurs and their partners in the spotlight

They drive ideas forward, develop new technologies and make their own companies fit for the future: the many successful entrepreneurs from Münsterland. On www.innovativ-macher.de, five of them tell what role innovations play in their business, how they are supported by institutions and how valuable partnerships are in developing forward-looking projects and products.

The website is part of a communication campaign of the joint project NRW.Innovationspartner, which promotes the support services of the project partners from the district economic development agencies, regional universities and chambers of industry and crafts. These offers range from information on funding and financing opportunities, advice on innovation projects to finding suitable partners for concrete project ideas.

"Our network offers companies from the region a wide range of services to support them in their innovation projects. The goal of our innovativ.macher campaign is to inform about these opportunities and motivate decision-makers to take advantage of them," emphasises Pia Tovar, project coordinator of NRW.Innovationspartner at Münsterland e.V. "And who better to do this than the innovative makers from Münsterland themselves? That's why the entrepreneurs themselves have their say in our campaign and tell us in the interviews what role innovations play in their company and what the support of our network partners was like in the successful projects."

Entrepreneurs Gerhard Spreckelmeyer from SPRECKELMEYER GmbH (Lengerich), Björn Kemper from KEMPER GmbH (Vreden), Richard Sievers and Michael Hans from EMPAC (Emsdetten) and Michael Niehues from Th. Niehues GmbH (Senden) talk about the culture of innovation in their companies in a personal, down-to-earth and typically Münsterland way.

In doing so, they draw on competent support from the Münsterland region. Gerhard Spreckelmeyer, for example, took advice from the Münster Chamber of Crafts when developing sophisticated solutions for plant and mechanical engineering, and Björn Kemper, as a leading manufacturer of extraction and filter technology, regularly exchanges ideas with Dr Markus Könning from the WFG für den Kreis Borken mbH. The company EMPAC has already received the Münsterland Innovation Award because of its good cooperation with Münster University of Applied Sciences, and now it is working on another project with the university. Meanwhile, the family-run company Th. Niehues GmbH appreciates the good cooperation with wfc Wirtschaftsförderung Kreis Coesfeld GmbH.

"Some companies still shy away from approaching the business development agency or a university directly and making use of their services. The campaign therefore not only wants to draw attention to the services offered by our partner organisations, but also to encourage entrepreneurs in the region to talk directly to the advisors," explains Pia Tovar.

All interviews with the innovativ.machers from Münsterland as well as further information and contact data on the partner organisations are available at www.innovativ-macher.de.

More information on the NRW.Innovationspartner joint project is available at www.muensterland.com/nrw-innovationspartner and from Pia Tovar, tovar@muensterland.com, 02571 949338.

More about NRW.Innovationspartner

Launched in February 2017, the NWR.Innovationspartner project strengthens the innovative capacity of small and medium-sized enterprises in Münsterland. To ensure this, Münsterland e.V., together with its project partners, supports institutional innovation and digitalisation consulting in Münsterland. The project's network partners include the district economic development agencies, the Münster Chamber of Skilled Crafts, TAFH Münster as the central innovation promotion and project development company of Münster University of Applied Sciences, and Technologieförderung Münster. Regional innovation promotion within the project is also supported by municipal economic development agencies, the Westphalian University of Applied Sciences, the North Westphalia Chamber of Industry and Commerce, the Digital Hub münster.LAND and the Münster Chamber of Agriculture.

NRW.Innovationspartner im Münsterland is funded by the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Innovation, Digitalisation and Energy of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia and supported by a back office located at NRW.BANK.