1. There are almost 80 technology/industry parks in Poland. First of all big congratulations for the recently achieved award – title as THE SYMBOL OF BUSINESS SUPPORT FOR 2022 IN POLAND! Therefore, the key questions is: What makes the Kielce Technology Park (KTP) special and why should a company establish there?

– Thank you a lot and I will emphasize that this award is thanks to the hardworking and amazing team that we have in Kielce Technology Park, so the award belongs to each of them. 

We are the Park focused on its tenants. We try to understand thoroughly their needs and offer appropriate services tailored to their needs, be in constant contact and flexibly change as the company grows. Our companies, which thanks to our support, are successful today are a recommendation itself. Among them, we can mention, for example, PODOPHARM, a leader in the field of podiatry, which started at the KTP with a premises with an area of 14 m2. Today, it is not only building its headquarters and, at the same time, the first podology clinic in Kielce (in the investment areas of the KTP), but it is also an international player. Similarly, the company EkoEnergia Polska, which started its operations in the Orange Incubator, then moved to the KTP Technology Centre, and then built its headquarters – a modern Centre for Renewable Energy Sources, similarly on the KTP investment areas. Another of them – Digital Engineering Solutions – is a company from the construction industry, dealing with new technologies and measurements, including construction of bridges, recognized and repeatedly awarded also on the foreign market. I could multiply more of these examples.

2. The KTP was established in 2008. What were the biggest challenges at the beginning?

– The biggest challenge during the creation of the Kielce Technology Park was to create an offer that would be tailored to the needs of local entrepreneurs, meet local expectations and help them to develop. In order to prepare the best possible offer, we visited many technology parks, also abroad. Many of them turned out to be wrong and had to be transformed. Therefore, in order to avoid a similar situation, it was a challenge to create such a mix of services that would match the region’s capabilities, needs, local conditions and connect the scientific and business communities. It does not succeed always and everywhere, it also needs an appropriate combination of factors, people and the city’s commitment. We made it. Currently, there are over 200 companies in the Kielce Technology Park, and over 1000 have already benefited from the support. However, this is not the end. We are constantly adjusting our offer to make KTP more competitive and open to changes.

3. What are you most proud of when looking back at the development of the KTP in the past decade?

– I am most proud of the team that we have managed to create. With them you can move mountains, make interesting projects. It is, among others, thanks to the support of the unique KTP team and the opportunities offered by the Kielce Technology Park, that our companies were able to expand their activities. Many of them have entered the foreign market, win prizes, and compete in the world from the leading position. It would not have been possible without the KPT team.

4. What kind of companies you wish to host in the future/what kind of technology you would like to see thrive in KTP?

– It’s a very difficult question. It is impossible to answer them unequivocally. We mainly focus on technology startups, but it is difficult to choose one technology, because it is a big risk in a changing world. We will definitely put emphasis on startups operating in the circular economy. The IT / ICT industry is also important, as it actually permeates every other technology industry in the world and is present at every step in our lives, which is why we will strongly support it. And at this point I can emphasize that among our tenants there are companies that use this field, e.g. CABIOMEDE – thanks to numerical technology, it uses 3D printing solutions for sports, medicine, veterinary medicine, the company CreoConcept produces partition walls, which change their translucency depending on the needs of users. In addition, the Kielce Technology Park is an ideal place to fulfil the mission of connecting entrepreneurs, new technologies and the scientific community, as evidenced by the close cooperation with the Central Office of Measures or local universities – the Jan Kochanowski University in Kielce and the Kielce University of Technology. We will also rely on this when acquiring new startups.