The desire to propel a business project and take on the challenges that arise. This is how the director of the Galician Institute for Economic Promotion (IGAPE), Fernando Guldrís defines the role of entrepreneurs. A role that is considered vital for the Regional Government of Galicia in its goal of stimulating economic growth in the Galician Community.

Through Igape, the Second Vice-Presidency and Regional Ministry of Economy, Enterprise and Innovation promotes different programmes and lines of action each year, aimed at job creation and improving the competitiveness of the business network. In this way, Galicia Emprende and Galicia Emprende Rural have been able to support, in the last four years, more than 350 entrepreneurial projects, mobilising 35 million euros.

To these numbers, the figures from the 2021 Galicia Emprende tender can be added, in which the Galician Government resolved to support a total of 52 new business initiatives with an expected investment of 19.5 million euros and the creation or maintenance of more than 400 jobs. Through this resolution, projects from the diverse industries of the Galician economy such as the services sector, social policy, hospitality, trade and research will be boosted.

Entrepreneurial Experiences

Among projects supported in recent years by the Regional Government of Galicia’s programmes to drive entrepreneurship are initiatives such as those of David Enguidanos, Cristian Santiago and Carlos Allo, who presented their business models to Igape and received financial assistance to make their businesses a reality: hardware outlet Fercofix, restaurant Mareaortegal and croquette manufacturer A Boa Vianda respectively.

"The help we received from Igape gave us a great push to get started and it should be taken advantage of", acknowledges the owner of Mareaortegal, "a type of restaurant that we were missing in the Ortegal area and that we set up on a building site thanks to the grant", explains Cristian Santiago in reference to the Galicia Emprende programme, of which he was a beneficiary in 2019 to launch the project.

For David Enguidanos, “taking a look from time to time at the grants on offer from the Regional Government of Galicia through Igape is key”. According to this entrepreneur, who, with the help of the Galicia Emprende programme set up a hardware and supplies shop in the municipality of Arteixo in A Coruña, "financial help is always welcome, both in terms of updating equipment and for project development".

Although he wishes there was "greater flexibility in the payment of funding awarded in this type of programme", Carlos Allo Otero, for his part, recognises that "any help is good" and is thankful to the Regional Government of Galicia for launching initiatives such as Galicia Emprende. “I trusted in my project and knew it was viable, which is the most important thing to launch a business, but a financial boost is always welcome”, explains Carlos Allo, owner of A Boa Vianda, a producer of croquettes that are “totally artisanal and made from Galician produce” in O Mosteiro, Pontevedra.

Opportunities in rural areas

In the case of the Galicia Emprende Rural programme, aimed at promoting the non-agricultural business activities of the self-employed, micro-enterprises, and small businesses, the Regional Government of Galicia, through the Second Vice-Presidency and Regional Ministry of Economy, Enterprise and Innovation, received more than 150 applications, which are being evaluated. With this initiative, the aim is to encourage the population to remain in rural areas and also increases employment opportunities for their inhabitants by supporting entrepreneurs and SMEs in the automotive, textile, aeronautical, chemical, environmental, audiovisual, stone, ICT and creative sectors.

Coworking spaces

In addition to the business initiatives that the Galician Government continues to promote, the Xunta fosters entrepreneurship in collaboration with the School of Industrial Organisation (EOI) through another programme of coworking spaces, which has helped create more than 380 companies since its launch in 2016.

Apart from the space itself, coworking spaces offer participants a personal mentor for their project to accompany them through the design process for their business; specific training through practical workshops focused on topics of interest; and various events to participate in, such as networking days or meetings with key social and economic players.

In the province of A Coruña, coworking spaces are located in Santiago de Compostela and in the comarcas of Ferrolterra, specifically in Ferrol, and the Costa da Morte, with premises in Cabana de Bergantiños. In the province of Lugo, there are coworking spaces in the comarcas of A Ribeira Sacra, with premises in Monforte de Lemos; A Mariña, in Mondoñedo; and in A Ulloa, in Palas de Rei. In Ourense the Confederation of Municipalities of O Carballiño have a space in O Irixo; Valdeorras, in A Rúa; and in San Cibrao das Viñas, in the Technology Park of Galicia (Tecnópole). In the province of Pontevedra, it is the comarcas of O Salnés and Deza, with premises in Vilanova de Arousa and Lalín respectively that have these initiatives of the Regional Government of Galicia.