SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
IT GROWS IN THE GREEN INDUSTRIAL CAPITAL
Rana Utvikling (Rana Develpoment) runs a non-commercial business to promote business development in the Mo i Rana region. The profits from the company's operations are plowed back into the field for new local development and growth, and the business has had great success over the past ten years. The development of a new and larger airport has been resource-intensive over several years, but now is to be realized. The same result applies to deep-water quays and battery cell factories. Together with its owners, which the three largest are Rana municipality, Helgeland Invest and Mo Industripark, Rana Utvikling has been the premise maker for turning the flow of young people back to their hometown. But the role as a business agency for Rana municipality is also a task that must be clearly characterized by sustainability.
The concept of Norway's green industrial capital is not a phrase, but a conscious commitment that is rooted in Rana municipality's vision. The vision is a premise for Rana municipality's adopted business plan, and it is this plan that is Rana Utvikling's assignment. In Mo i Rana, sustainability is a governing instrument, and the UN's seventeen sustainability goals are not a decoration on a wall or a pin on a jacket.
Rana Utviklingsselskap's most important task is to improve the conditions for existing business activities and to create the best possible conditions for innovation. In Rana municipality's business plan, growth is set as a vision, but not unconditionally. The growth must take place throughout the region, it must be sustainable and it must, through increased migration, strengthen the conditions for welfare and a good quality of life.
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The core of RU's activities is business development, which means that existing businesses must be ensured good conditions for developing their business. It involves help with innovation processes, the use of the policy instruments for, among other things, research and skills development. In collaboration with other actors, RU will contribute to local businesses having optimal conditions for profitability, and the recruitment of competent labor is an important part of this.
The vision of being a green industrial capital is solidly founded in the Rana community. It is based on our identity, our ability to adapt and a proud recognition that we live in an attractive urban community with good conditions for quality of life. In Mo i Rana, we are proud of our industrial history, and we know that we have a culture that is able to look ahead and create something new. Mo i Rana is a melting pot, not only culturally but also technologically.
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The UN's sustainability goals are a common task where no one is exempt. No global tasks can be solved without local action. This will characterize the business development in Mo i Rana and surrounding municipalities, and means that the region's contribution will be green innovation, recruitment of expertise from around the world, and to always have the ability for rapid change. The conductor of this symphony of exciting challenges is Rana Utviklingsselskap.
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FREYR
The establishment of Freyr Battery in Mo i Rana is a result of hard and determined work from, among others, Rana Utviklingsselskap. The management of Freyr has on a number of occasions pointed out that Mo i Rana's innovative capacities and resources were crucial for the project's progress and realization.
The establishment of Freyr's battery cell factory changes the conditions for new business development. Freyr's production will require 1,500 employees, labor that must to a large extent be recruited from outside. A population increase of 5,000 new inhabitants is expected in the next few years, and this places demands on Mo i Rana's capabilities for the development of new housing and other infrastructure. RU's role as the municipality's business agency includes dealing with this challenge as well.
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Population growth is opening the doors wide for supplementary business development, everything from car repair shops and restaurants, to highly competent service providers to the battery cell factory. RU is well prepared for this task, and is gathered under the same roof as many of the others in the policy instruments.
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RU currently has twelve employees and an annual budget of NOK 12-15 million. The company's offices in the center of Mo i Rana are a cluster with several other players working together.
