The wide range of services offered by the business support unit includes, for example, helping companies to solve problems relating to environmental and commercial law, clarifying issues relating to building law in advance, and supporting companies in improving the conditions under which they operate. It bundles and coordinates administrative processes and, if desired, accompanies the company through to the implementation of a measure, thus offering service from a single source. The services also include commercial space marketing and real estate services (see Chapter II.7). 

In 2022, the Economic Development Department carried out 374 business support measures and consultations for resident Bonn companies. Participation in citizens' meetings, discussions with chambers of commerce and political committees on current challenges are also an integral part of the work. This service is supplemented by advice on subsidies, which informs companies about publicly available subsidies for business investments and operating resources. In addition to the business support measures and consulting services, the Economic Development Department also supported a total of 131 settlement and investment projects in 2022. In the process, it advised and accompanied foreign companies in their search for commercial real estate in the context of a possible settlement.

Due to the shortage of commercial land and the lack of available municipal commercial land, the city was unable to sell any commercial properties to companies in 2022. The focus was therefore placed on finding private sites. In order to be able to offer commercial properties to companies willing to relocate in the future, one focus of the work is on the development and qualification of existing commercial properties. Due to the shortage of commercial land, the Economic Development Department will apply even stricter award criteria in future when allocating plots of land. In addition, criteria that are suitable for achieving the city's goal - climate neutrality by 2035 - will play an increasingly important role in the allocation of municipal land.

In 2022, corporate support provided assistance in the context of approval processes, particularly for companies from the service sector, automotive supply, the food industry and retail. For example, support was provided for intended uses with relevance to building and planning law, and complex construction projects were also supported with regard to their approvability.

The city of Bonn intends to become climate-neutral by 2035, to switch its energy supply almost completely to renewable energies and, in parallel, to continuously develop into a city adapted to climate change. This also applies to all commercially and industrially used areas in Bonn under the keyword "commercial areas in transition". Against this background, the pilot project "Klimagerechtes Gewerbegebiet Beuel-Ost" (climate-friendly commercial area Beuel East) is intended to serve as a model project that can also be transferred to other commercial areas in Bonn in the future and to show which possibilities can be used in an existing commercial area to unseal and green areas and to reduce emissions. The city of Bonn, together with the Essen-based engineering firm GERTEC and WILA - Wissenschaftsladen Bonn, started this model project in mid-2021. Together with interested local companies, it is continuously identified how the area can be further developed in a climate-friendly way. Key elements are potential checks and the initiation of measures for a high location quality, an attractive open space structure, efficient energy use and optimized energy generation.

These sample projects illustrate the range of services provided by the company support:

• Support of relocation and expansion projects of companies from the food industry, the logistics sector, nanotechnology and the health industry.
• Support of investment projects of project developers and investors.
• Support of private property owners for the densification of commercial areas.
• Support for companies in the real estate industry and transportation in the acquisition of subsidies.
• Clarification of questions regarding building regulations for a commercial enterprise.
• Clarification of planning law issues for a manufacturing company and a logistics company.
• Mediation of contacts in the search for sales markets.
• Consultations on secure and stable energy supply in connection with the energy crisis caused by the war in Ukraine.

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