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Economic development and location marketing will be centrally bundled in the future
On Wednesday, January 28, the Darmstadt City Council, with broad political consensus, approved a comprehensive restructuring of the city's economic development efforts. Going forward, economic development and location marketing will be centrally managed by Wissenschaftsstadt Darmstadt Marketing GmbH . This move represents a continuation of the administrative modernization program announced last fall.
The aim of the structural reform is to merge the existing activities of the economic development agency and Darmstadt Marketing GmbH, to leverage synergies, and to accelerate decision-making processes. This will create a central point of contact for companies and businesses, acting in a business-oriented and innovation-focused manner and serving as a link between administration, business, and academia.
Mayor and Head of Economic Affairs Hanno Benz emphasizes: “Darmstadt is a strong business and science location. It is important to preserve and further develop this. With this new approach, we are fundamentally modernizing municipal economic development in order to support companies even more effectively in the future.”
Clear strategic direction until 2035
The basis for the realignment is the "Concept Paper on Economic Development Strategy 2035." This paper identifies five key areas of action: digitalization, decarbonization, demographics, deglobalization, and artificial intelligence. The focus includes strengthening digital skills in public administration and businesses, the use of applied AI in production and services, sustainable transformation, the development of high-quality commercial and industrial sites, and the impact of demographic change.
The new economic development agency will play a stronger role as a catalyst and coordinator. In addition to supporting businesses, its core tasks will include active location marketing, support for business relocation processes, and measures to retain skilled workers.
Integration with urban economy and participation structure
A key element of the reform is its close alignment with the newly adopted urban economic strategy. This serves as an operational compass for strengthening the networking of municipal holdings and leveraging synergies. Topics such as sustainability, resource efficiency, and the promotion of start-ups are central to this strategy.
The new structure is accompanied by an economic development advisory board. This body includes representatives from the city's business community, chambers of commerce, professional and industry associations, the education and research sector, and trade unions. The board advises the economic development agency on both substantive matters and the further development of internal administrative processes and the reduction of bureaucratic hurdles.
“With the merger of Darmstadt Marketing and the economic development agency, as well as the new urban economic strategy, we are creating a modern foundation to make our business location crisis-proof and to secure the quality of life in Darmstadt in the long term,” Benz concluded.
(DARMSTADT – RED/PSD/stip/dk)
