The GUUTE is so close and good in the race

25 years ago the Urfahr-Raum district had 2,571 companies and 7,472 employees; today there are 6,809 companies with 13,420 employees. This makes the district one of the most dynamic in the country, says the head of the regional Chamber of Commerce, Sabine Lindorfer. And she also sees a reason for this in a platform that is now celebrating its 25th birthday – the GUUTE.

Originally the two U’s stood for Urfahr-Environment. Not only companies from the Mühlviertler district are now involved, but also companies from neighboring districts such as Eferdinger Hauptplatz. The GUUTE is an example of how many small companies can achieve great things with a joint association, says Lindorfer. The contribution of the individual company is comparatively modest, but the effect is large. Austria’s largest regional business association at district level has more than 400 member companies that benefit from the network.

“Purchasing power outflow stopped”

Founding chairman Willi Ganglberger and managing director Franz Tauber, who has held this position for 25 years, wanted to stop the outflow of purchasing power from a district characterized by many commuters, which Tauber believes has been successful. Almost half of consumer spending remains in the district. 25,000 GUUTE cards are in circulation. These cards are part of a customer loyalty program through which 17.5 million euros in sales were generated and around 250 jobs can be maintained and which is also linked to a voucher system. “This is available at a cost that individual small businesses would never receive,” says Lindorfer.

The networking is not only based on a customer loyalty program, there are business meetings, training and cooperation for social media and now also a training company service so that small businesses can keep up with large corporations, which traditionally have an easier time recruiting apprentices.