Financial and substantive support for entrepreneurs
To establish ROM InWest, the municipalities of the Amsterdam Metropolitan Area (MRA), the North Holland North region (NHN), the province of North Holland and the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate (EZK) have joined forces. Collaboration is also being sought with partners such as Horizon Flevoland and the ROM for the Utrecht region. Deputy Ilse Zaal (Economy and Labor Market & Education, province of North Holland): “The ROM not only connects partners but also regional and national economic policy, in which social return is paramount. This ROM will be an example of how cooperation can lead to economic strengthening and greening of the entire region.”
With the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy and the regional decentralised authorities as shareholders, ROM InWest has two funds:
- A fund worth €60 million, focused on innovative SMEs, with broad regional priorities such as high tech, repair and manufacturing industry, agri & food, logistics and life sciences & health.
- A transition fund of €100 million for investments in the energy transition and the circular economy, such as investments to set up a green hydrogen infrastructure.
In addition to the possibility of financial support, ROM InWest also helps entrepreneurs with content. ROM InWest offers namely also assistance with bottlenecks in business development. In this way, specialists test the plans of entrepreneurs for financial and technical feasibility and the right parties are brought into contact with each other. Finally, ROM InWest, like the other ROMs in the Netherlands, can implement government regulations. Think of the emergency package 'jobs and economy' or the recent Corona Bridging Loan (COL). In this way, public funds from Europe and The Hague reach entrepreneurs in the region as well as possible.
Alderman Victor Everhardt (Economic Affairs, Amsterdam): “With ROM InWest, we, the various governments together with companies, can make the economy in the region more innovative and stimulate it. This form of co-financing makes it possible for the business community to attract large investments to the region and thus ensure new jobs, an acceleration of the energy transition and sustainable economic recovery after corona. The road to Paris is thus being paved in our metropolitan region and province.”
Double task: strengthening and making the economy more sustainable
Although ROM InWest resembles ROMs in other regions, there is a big difference. In North Holland, there is already a strong ecosystem, in which the 'Amsterdam Economic Board' and 'Ontwikkelingsbedrijf Noord-Holland Noord' stimulate cooperation and make an important contribution to the earning capacity of the region. The desire for more administrative cooperation was decisive for the establishment of ROM InWest. Alderman Pieter Dijkman (Economic Affairs, Alkmaar): "For a long time it seemed that North Holland had a North and South wing that touched each other as easily as the North and South Poles. The cooperation in the ROM makes it clear what added value we have to offer each other. In the ROM, high-quality knowledge, international flair and the can-do mentality of North Holland come together."
In addition to the desire for more administrative cooperation, the region also faces a dual challenge. On the one hand, the corona crisis shows that the business community is vulnerable, on the other hand, there is the ambition to further green the regional economy and accelerate the energy transition. The existing knowledge and expertise, supplemented by the extensive fund capital of ROM InWest, are the key to this.
