Steelcase, world’s largest workplace solutions company, makes 24 million € investment in new facility near Stříbro
One of the largest industrial investments this year, worth more than 650 million Czech crowns (over €24 million), is being built near Ostrov u Stříbra in the Tachov area. The local Panattoni Park has attracted an investment by Steelcase Inc., the world leader in providing high performance workplace solutions. Panattoni will provide the company with 27,000 square metres of floor space, the size of four football pitches, which is more than five times the average for a single contract in the Czech market. The new built-to-suit facility should be ready by autumn. About 300 people will find jobs in the factory.
“Recent arrivals of several new large investors confirm that the Czech economy is recovering. We need new vacancies that put people, who lost their jobs during the recession, back to work. I can see several new major projects on the horizon and I’m happy to stress that our government will create favourable condition for such projects, as we have clearly stated that the influx of new investments is our government’s priority,” says Jan Mládek, Minister of Industry and Trade.
Panattoni Park Stříbro has thus attracted a second large investor in a short time – about a month ago a major German automotive supplier announced the creation of several hundred new jobs in the park. “Panattoni Park Stříbro is one of our most successful industrial parks not just in the Czech Republic,” confirms Pavel Sovička, Managing Director, Panattoni Europe Czech Republic.
Panattoni, along with the Czech Accolade Group, has recently secured new land adjacent to the current industrial park to make room for an expansion of the zone. “We offer investors perfectly prepared land where they can start producing within six to eight months after signing the contract,” explains Milan Kratina, Partner of the Accolade Group, the reasons behind the popularity of the zone. He adds that in the final phase the park will offer investors up to 300,000 square meters of floor space.
“The number of investors expressing their intent to invest in the Plzeň Region is rapidly increasing and the influx of new businesses or expansions of existing ones are already well reflected in the creation of new jobs – unemployment in our region has been declining for two consecutive months,” says Václav Šlajs, Governor of the Plzeň Region. “Tachov is the district with the highest number of people out of work within our region, so the successful development of the industrial park near Stříbro is excellent news for the region,” adds Šlajs.
Miroslav Nenutil, Senator for Tachov and Cheb, concurs: “The biggest problem facing Stříbro right now is the high unemployment rate. As mayor of the city I helped to establish the industrial zone a few years ago and nowadays we are helping to attract new investor for it. It is a long-time effort and it has already resulted in creating a hundred new jobs, which is helping the Tachov district really a lot," says Miroslav Nenutil.
“We are pleased that the market leader in office furniture manufacturing decided to invest in the Czech Republic. Steelcase’s investment represents an open opportunity for Czech suppliers in furniture production,” states Ondřej Votruba, acting CEO of CzechInvest.