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Dear people,
A very happy new year to you all. Happy New Year to you all!
‘The sun is shining in the sky
There ain't a cloud in sight
It's stopped raining
Everybody's in the play
And don't you know, it's a beautiful new day’
This optimistic quote from Electric Light Orchestra's Mister Blue Sky was once again featured in this year's Top2000, in the cosy days between Christmas and New Year.
The song came out the year I went from primary to secondary school. I am a big music lover. I love going to concerts. I admire good bands. Who, when in tune with each other, manage to combine flawless technique with great creativity and, in doing so, thrill an entire hall.
During the Christmas holidays, it suddenly struck me how much this corresponds to the strength of our region. Cooperation, technology and creativity. Together, we have been creating a region with music in it for years.
How nice, fellow regionals, to meet you here again, in the Evoluon. An icon for the region, which since two years has again opened its doors to everyone, who wants to take a look into the future. My special thanks go to the 11 partners who made this meeting possible.
Upon entering, you probably already saw the recently opened exhibition Space Farming, which introduces you to the future of food and food production. Because it has to be different. The number of people on Earth continues to grow. And current food production is not keeping up with that pace.
Challenges like these are being tackled in the Brainport region. No matter whether it is about healthcare under pressure, mobility or energy transition. All these themes call for new technologies and innovations. We have been looking ahead here for years. By working closely together, we take technology to great heights.
That gave us, as a region, a multitude of companies that are among the absolute best in the world. Take Philips, ASML, Signify, DAF, Thermo Fisher Scientific, VDL Groep and an immense chain of manufacturing companies. Or the many start-ups and scale-ups with lesser-known names, but who knows how fast that can change. Think Mantispectra, VivArt-X, Axelera AI or Fonontech. New innovative companies are still emerging almost every week. Successful young entrepreneurs, offering answers when it comes to the energy transition, such as ELEO, RIFT and Leyden Jar. Symbols of our determination and ingenuity.
Globally, Brainport holds a prominent position. Despite the many tensions on the world stage, the region continues to develop steadily.
Today, we are gathered to share optimism about it with each other. Our development is now much bigger than a regional one. Here we develop machinery needed for transitions, earn money for the Netherlands that can be invested in education, care and security, and contribute substantially to the European agenda of strategic autonomy. This importance is now so great that it cannot be accommodated by a region alone. We need The Hague and Brussels permanently. To ensure that power continues to come out of the sockets, campuses can continue to develop, talents are trained and it remains pleasant to live and work for everyone. This week, negotiations also start again in The Hague. We know that the rest of the world is only too happy to take our knowledge, people and products abroad. The new cabinet will therefore also have to continue investing in Development and Research, Technical Talent and a good business climate. Security of existence is number one priority. And rightly so. But I repeat that security of existence in the longer term is only possible if we make targeted and structural investments in our technology, talents and business climate. Today, I also sent that message to the informateur on behalf of our companies, governments and knowledge institutions. Together with our colleagues from TNO, Twente and all the other tech-toppers, we will not fail to pull everyone's hair out in the coming weeks and months to draw attention to this great importance.
In doing so, we will also tell people that the region itself is willing to invest. Because, of course, we are not just looking to The Hague. It is up to us to ensure together that this success benefits everyone. So that the Brainport region is a pleasant place to live, work and play for all its inhabitants.
We are feeling the growing pains in our region, all of us. All employers are facing labour market shortages. All municipalities are experiencing a severe housing shortage. So we also want to solve that together. This means ensuring enough affordable houses for everyone, ensuring accessibility in the region is in order, finding, training and developing local talent.
Therefore, in the coming year, as you may have seen in the media, we will start working with four public-private funds. These funds will ensure that we can make concrete metres on the challenges that are greatest for this region.
- Affordable housing,
- accessibility,
- talent development,
- and... the social agenda of Brainport for Each Other
Brainport for Each Other... a year ago, I had the honour of standing before you as a brand-new mayor and regional chairman to launch this initiative. An initiative, in which we work together with the business community and civil society organisations on the social agenda of the city and region. Now a year on, I can say that a lot has happened in that time.
For instance, with the financial fit programme, we rolled out a tailor-made approach to help their people with financial concerns at 24 companies with a total of over 50,000 employees in this region. The companies have made the topic part of their HR policies. They are seeing a sharp reduction in wage garnishments. That's a win-win: for both the company and the employees.
At 10 companies, we have started a low-literacy programme with 45 employees, also focusing on digital skills. We use the inputs of companies to track down their employees who are low-literate and offer them a tailor-made offer in the workplace.
We will also scale up ‘BuddyWerkt’ for people over 50 from 170 to 300 buddies across the region. In this way, we will connect more job-seeking residents in the region to buddies from the business community. They open up their network and help in the search for a (new) sustainable job.
Nearly 2,700 volunteers from various companies committed themselves to civil society organisations in the region last year. With their time and expertise. A great example of how cooperation is taking shape within Brainport for each other is the long-term partnership between ASML and Springboard 040. I understood that one day a week of help from ASML saves around EUR 6,500 a month on ICT contracts at Springplank040. That saving allows them to assist four more homeless people every month. Fantastic, right?
In addition, from the PSV partnership - the cooperation between the shirt-sponsors - we started two broad public campaigns aimed at money worries and debt prevention.
In short: the cooperation within ‘Brainport for each other’ is gaining substance and scope. More and more municipalities, companies, educational institutions and civil society organisations are joining in. They all join in their role as employers.
But where exactly do they connect? After a year of building and testing, we decided to continue Brainport for Each Other as an association. An association in which involvement and control for members, based on equality, is shaped. A broad, regional, democratic alliance with the common goal of a region where everyone can participate, gets opportunities and benefits from growth. The group already consists of some 60 participants and is growing.
Just recently, a good number of organisations, from small to large, signed up to the alliance. Technological companies such as Imec, GE Healthcare and Mansveld. But also companies like BDO, Markteffect, LICHT, VB Groep, Ergon and VanderValk Hotel Eindhoven. And social organisations like Springplank040, Meneer Rick, WijEindhoven and Veldhoven municipality.
In the coming year, we will take further steps with this association. I would like to thank the companies and directors of Impact 040, Samen voor Eindhoven, the Partnerfonds Brainport and the cooperating municipalities for the vision to make the step towards a joint association possible this year. As cooperating public-private players, we want to ensure that our growth benefits all residents of the region. Our success depends on the success of the entire community. And then it helps enormously that we become one association, and not a collaboration of separate initiatives. That's how we do it here!
Many of you are already involved in social projects, for example in neighbourhoods or schools. This stems from a long tradition in our region. Where companies take responsibility for their employees, but also for the wider community. We want to build on those initiatives together. Businesses' knowledge, manpower or resources can create opportunities in people's lives. Especially when they seek cooperation with the government, knowledge institutions and social organisations. By combining and scaling up our efforts, we will get even more impact.
So I would like to ask you, if this is not a good time to think about joining. You too can become a member of Brainport for each other, everyone is welcome.
So we come back to the beginning of my story, in which I told you about my love for music. I hope that in the coming period we can ensure that our band continues to make strong music together.
Many of you know the band Bots, from Eindhoven indeed. Or at least their hit song ‘What shall we drink; seven days long’. The later verses are much less known. One of them reads:
Then we will work
For seven days
Yes we will work
For each otherThen there will be work for all
So we'll work together
For seven days
Yes we'll work together
Not alone
Let us keep that spirit in 2024.
Then it remains for me to invite you to a toast ... to the New Year.
Best wishes!
