Piła – a city that used to be overshadowed by Poznań – is currently the main economic and academic center of the sub-region inhabited by more than 400 thousand people. The city is situated in an attractive location – at the crossroads of national roads leading from the Coast to the south, to Poznań or Gorzów and further to Germany, as well as from Szczecin and Świnoujście to Bydgoszcz and Warsaw. Moreover, two airports are located in proximity of 105 km in Poznań and Bydgoszcz.
According to the research of the Pro Progressio Foundation, it is the personnel that mainly decides about the investment potential of this region. Piła belongs to the group of cities where training courses for employees „made to measure entrepreneurs' needs” are really important. It is possible thanks to strict cooperation of representatives of the academic and business environment which created a developed system of dual studies. This innovative model of integrated education allows to combine work and studies. We called this three-sided cooperation between universities, local governments and private enterprises „golden triangle” – says Wiktor Doktór, Chairman of the Pro Progressio Foundation. The openness of universities for extending the didactic offer and its adjustment to requirements imposed by the business world is the key to gain new investors and reduce the number of „unemployed graduates” on the labor market – adds Doktór.
As the Deputy President of the City Beata Dudzińska emphasizes, Piła has all needed assets to become a big center. The greatest advantages of the city are already mentioned strict cooperation of education with business, as well as attractive investment areas, or complex service for investors and support in the recruitment process. 80 companies with foreign capital have already trusted us and each new investor may count on our help – sums up Beata Dudzińska. Furthermore, new operation centers of Phillips Lighting Poland, PZU Group, or Polkomtel Sp. z o.o. have been founded in the city. Piła is slowly becoming a center of outsourcing services and shared services centers.