This week we are diving into Business Tampere, a partner that has supported us for a long time and helped us get many valuable business opportunities. Over the years, we have had the pleasure of working with many of Business Tampere’s talented professionals and today we had the change to interviewed one of them: Yi Tang, Business Advisor.
Business Tampere is a regional development agency for the whole Pirkanmaa region in Finland. Their main goal is to help local companies grow domestically and internationally, create more job opportunities, and attract international investment to Finland. Yi Tang’s responsibilities are focused on helping companies export and grow internationally. “Within our organization, we have professionals dedicated to helping companies inside the EU, while my primary focus lies in markets outside the EU,” she explains. Business Tampere also supports company growth with the support of ecosystem managers, and by offering companies knowledge and tailored recommendations about available fundings. All in all, Business Tampere supports a wide range of companies that are in different growth stages, varying between many industries.
Tailored support for export
In practice, working with Business Tampere can look like this: a company contacts them, and Business Tampere helps them by doing background research to see what the current business opportunities in their focus market are, and then helping them network by referring them to relevant parties. Besides that, Business Tampere also has more systematic and tailored ways for market expansion: “Currently, I’m leading a project titled ‘Bridging4Growth (B4G)‘, which aims to expand companies’ operations in the United States, Canada, Uzbekistan, and Brazil.” She details that companies can apply to B4G-program with a short introduction, and by describing their goals for growing in this market. When they get accepted, Business Tampere connects them with a mentor who is experienced in their field. The matched mentor provides customized support to the company, ensuring it becomes better prepared for the market. “It’s sort of a tailored program and for example, in EPSE’s case, as you already have experience and understanding of these markets, the focus is more towards making direct sells.”
The dynamic partnership between Business Tampere and EPSE
For many years, EPSE has been working very actively with Business Tampere. Few years back, EPSE was a part of another project lead by Yi Tang, and since August 2023, EPSE has been part of the Bridging4Growth program, focusing on the Uzbekistan and Brazilian markets. “We are very glad that the relationship with EPSE is an ongoing one, and we are happy that you were satisfied with the first project and now are a part of a second one,” She explains that sometimes Business Tampere receives excellent leads about companies that align very well with EPSE.
As EPSE and Business Tampere have been working together for several years, the relationship has gotten familiar. “With EPSE, we have a very healthy and sustainable relationship. We help them, and they help us.” In the past, EPSE and Business Tampere have come across instances where larger companies sought solutions spanning multiple areas. While EPSE addressed one aspect of the customer’s challenges, they reached out to Business Tampere to explore opportunities for other regional companies to provide solutions for remaining needs. “This collaborative approach has proven highly effective,” she notes. “EPSE demonstrates great generosity in sharing these opportunities with others.”
Acknowledging Business Tampere’s support
In international business, collaborations like the one between Business Tampere and EPSE, exemplify the power of working together. We want to thank everyone in Business Tampere’s team that we have had the pleasure to work with. Their support has been very helpful to our operations, and we are looking forward for future cooperation!