SPRI
SPRI, an acronym for Sociedad para la Promoción y Reconversión Industrial, its original name, is a development agency created by the Basque Government's Department of Industry in 1981 with the aim of contributing to industrial promotion, encouraging the creation of new companies and the expansion of those already established, promoting cooperation companies, financially implementing the Basque Government's support for industrial restructuring and uting projects with a technological content (Department of Industry and Energy, 1982).
From then until the present day, SPRI has become the uting arm of the Basque Government's industrial policy, but also the parent company of one of the most important groups in the Basque Country's public business sector. At the end of 2009, the SPRI Group comprised the parent company and the following companies: the Basque Country Technology Park Network (Bizkaia, Alava, San Sebastian and Garaia); SPRILUR, the industrial land company that manages 22 industrial estates (Industrialdeak) in the territory of the Autonomous Community; the Sociedad Gestión de Capital Riesgo del País Vasco (SGECR, S. A.), which manages 5 venture capital funds and four companies for business promotion and participation with a total amount of more than 200 million euros; the four Business and Innovation Centres (CEIs) of the Basque Country (CEIA, CEDEMI, SAIOLAN and BERRILAN); and an external network to support the action of the Government and Basque companies in more than 50 countries.
SPRI was set up as a public company, with capital provided by the Basque Government and the Autonomous Community's savings banks. The latter's share in its capital, initially 43%, has been progressively reduced until it currently represents a percentage of just over 1%, the rest being contributed by the Basque Treasury. The Agency is governed by a Board of Directors, whose Chairman is the Basque Government Minister of Industry, and a General Management, which has been held by the following persons: Juan Miguel Romeo (1982-83), Jesús Alberdi (1983-87), Roberto Velasco (1987-1991), Javier Retegui (1991-93), Antonio Gallarreta (1993-99), Aitor Cobanera (1999-2004), Mauri Lazkano (2004-2009) and Tomás Orbea (since 2009). Throughout this period, and in line with the growing importance of SPRI in Basque industry and the Basque economy, its total workforce has grown from 20 people at the end of 1982 to more than 200 in 2010.
The lines of action in terms of industrial policy carried out by SPRI from its creation until the beginning of 1991 focused on the restructuring of industries and sectors with problems, the relaunching and revitalisation of industry and support for technological change and innovation. In the first area, SPRI carried out the restructuring programmes in the sectors not covered by the central government's reconversion, mainly made up of small and medium-sized enterprises (machine tools and hand tools, forging, foundry and stamping, fasteners, firearms and paper, the most important ones). Initially, aid was granted to individual companies, but since 1985, with the implementation of the Exceptional Relaunch Plan (PRE), aid was granted to sectors as a whole, in a pioneering attempt to promote inter-company cooperation.
The policy of relaunching and revitalising industrial activity was organised through various programmes: financial support for companies (SPRI loans for industrial investment, Investment Support Programme-PAI); implementation of the Nervión Urgent Reindustrialisation Zone (ZUR), in collaboration with the central Administration (since 1988 transformed into an Industrialised Zone in Decline-ZID and extended to other districts: the industrial belt of Donostia-San Sebastián and Bajo Deba); the provision of industrial land and infrastructure - industrial estates and pavilions - (Industrialdeak Programme, with the collaboration of local councils and provincial councils); the creation of Business and Innovation Centres (CEIs) with the aim of supporting the creation of new business projects (Saiolan in 1985, CEIA in 1987); and the creation of a venture capital company (the Sociedad Gestora de Capital Riesgo, in 1985) to offer financing to new projects. SPRI also set up horizontal programmes that were new at the time, such as those for improving management training and business management (Sectoral Strategic Seminars, Entrepreneurs' Workshops, ONDA, AUDE and AUDE PLUS programmes); and support for internationalisation (Baskesport, Sofad, opening of SPRI offices abroad). The policy of support for technological change and innovation was, if possible, the most innovative of all those deployed by SPRI in those years, not only in Spain but in Western Europe as a whole. On the one hand, it was committed to creating a technological infrastructure to support companies (technology centres and parks, promoting the creation of the Zamudio Technology Park in 1985). On the other hand, various horizontal programmes were set up to train workers and society in general in new computer and micro-electronics technologies (IMI and TEKEL programmes); equipment programmes to encourage the incorporation of advanced equipment in industry (CN-100 and ECTA); and programmes to create an advanced telecommunications infrastructure (Spritel and Sprinet), which succeeded in creating the first telematic network in Spain. In 1989, the Technology Strategy and Innovation Unit (UETI) was created within SPRI, responsible for the Basque Government's first Technology Strategy Plan (1990-1993).
During the period from 1991 to 1998 SPRI continued some of the lines of action developed in the previous decade and initiated new ones. In the field of industrial restructuring, the most important programmes were the so-called 3R Plan (rescue, restructuring and labour reorientation) aimed at supporting companies in difficulties due to the 1991-1994 crisis; support for the reorganisation of the steel industry (integral steelmaking, promoting the creation of the Acería Compacta de Bizkaia; and special, orienting the surviving companies towards new market segments with greater added value: automobile, aeronautics). In the field of industrial promotion, SPRI launched several new programmes, in collaboration with the Provincial Councils, aimed at attracting new investments (GARAPEN, EKIMEN), supported the creation of a Basque telecommunications operator, EUSKALTEL, and tried to attract large foreign companies to the Basque Country, although without much success. But it also continued with previous programmes to support investment (the PAI now became the AFI Programme); land and industrial infrastructure (creating in 1995 a company within the SPRI Group, Sprilur, dedicated to managing the network of industrial estates); the creation of new CEIs (BIC Berrilan in 1992, CEDEMI in 1997); and support for disadvantaged areas (SORTU Industrial Development Companies); In the area of technology and innovation, the Basque Government has been involved in the creation of new CEIs (BIC Berrilan in 1992, CEDEMI in 1997) and support for disadvantaged areas (Industrial Development Companies SORTU); the promotion of risk capital (reinforcing the financial soundness of the SGECR and creating two new companies, the Luzaro Participative Credit Company in 1992 and the Basque Capital Development Company-SOCADE in 1993); and gave greater impetus to horizontal programmes to support the internationalisation of Basque companies (Strategic Plan for Foreign Promotion 1993-1996 and 1997-1999, INDOBASK Programme) and to improve training and business management (RETO Programme and training for management and middle management). Finally, in the area of technology and innovation, SPRI continued to manage the programmes to support companies' R&D activities (Technology and Innovation Management Programme 1991-96 and INTEK Programme from 1997 onwards). During this stage, all the technology centres were unified into a single Network and two new Technology Parks were created, Miñano (Álava-Araba) in 1992 and Miramón-San Sebastián in 1994, integrated a year later, together with Zamudio, into the Basque Country Technology Park Network, a public company dependent on SPRI. SPRI's UETI advised the recently created Basque Technology Council on the drawing up of the Industrial Technology Plan (1993-1996) and the Science and Technology Plan (1997-2000).
During the period from 1999 to 2008, the industrial promotion policy orchestrated from SPRI broadly continued along the general lines outlined in the previous stage, with some changes aimed at reinforcing the Basque Government's new economic strategy, focused on improving the Basque Country's competitive position through a Second Great Transformation based on innovation as the driving force, strengthening the scientific base of the Basque innovation and boosting industrial diversification towards new science and knowledge-intensive sectors. In the field of support for business creation, investment and employment, old programmes such as Strategic Projects, GAUZATU (heir to the GARAPEN-EKIMEN, but replacing non-refundable subsidies to companies with refundable advances if the project is successful) and ADEFIN; Other new programmes have been added, such as HOBEKI, AFI and Succession in SMEs and the Entrepreneurship Support Programmes (EKINTZAILE and BARNEKINTZAILE, aimed at promoting new innovative projects). In the field of internationalisation, three new programmes were launched to intensify this process among Basque companies: the ATZERRI Programme to increase the export base; the GAUZATU Programme for foreign establishments; and the ELKARTZEN Programme. Since 2006, these programmes have been replaced by other more generic ones aimed at promoting cooperation companies in this line both in the Basque Country and in foreign markets and at boosting the use of SPRI's foreign network. Finally, SPRI continued its old infrastructure and industrial salary programmes, managed by the company Sprilur; financial support for new projects through SGCR, S.A.; and management training and management improvement. In the field of innovation, SPRI continued the previous R&D support programmes (INTEK) and created new ones (SAIOTEK and ETORTEK, since 2002; GAITEK, INNOTEK and NET's, since 2007; EMAITEK and ETORGAI since 2008); it promoted the creation of a fourth technology park, the Garaia Innovation Park in Arrasate-Mondragón, part of the Basque Country Technology Park Network; In 2002, it set up the Cooperative Research Centres (CICs), designed to promote basic and applied research through cooperation technology centres, research groups, universities and companies and to support the industrial diversification strategy towards new sectors such as biosciences, micro and nanotechnologies, alternative energies and tourism.
Since 2007, SPRI has led the implementation of a series of actions aimed at promoting and disseminating the culture of innovation among companies and society: the Innovanet network, Berrikuntza Agendak, Innovation Forums, the Aldatu Programme and Directiv@21, among the most important ones. Lastly, SPRI implemented the various programmes of the Basque Country in the Information Society Plan (PESI 2002-2005) and the PESI 2010-Basque Country Digital Agenda, which reflected the Basque Government's strong commitment to extending information and communication technologies (ICTs) among citizens, companies and the Administration. In the first case, the best known programmes were KONEKTA ZAITEZ (which subsidised the purchase of computers by families) and the creation of a network of 260 KZGUNES, centres aimed at promoting the use and knowledge of ICTs in society. With regard to companies, the most notable programmes were HOBEKI DIGITALA and ENPRESA DIGITALA, the most notable of which was the creation of centres of the same name in each of the Technology Parks in the ACBC to disseminate the use of ICTs and train company staff in the use of these technologies.
SPRI was also the agency in charge of implementing the economic diversification strategy undertaken by the Department of Industry towards new science- and knowledge-intensive sectors from 2002 onwards. In this year, the BioBasque 2010 strategy was launched with the aim of creating a new industrial sector, the biosciences, as had been done in the mid-1990s with the aeronautical sector. Considerable progress has been made: in 2008 the biosciences sector is made up of more than 70 companies and employs a total of 3,000 people, coordinated by the BioBasque Agency, part of SPRI; it has two CICs (CIC bioGUNE and CIC biomaGUNE) and a bioincubator of companies (Biokabi), all of which are based in the Bizkaia Technology Park. At the end of 2008, SPRI launched the nanoBasque strategy, which involved a strong commitment to incorporate nanoscience and micro and nanotechnologies into the production , promoting the creation of a coordinating body, the nanoBasque Agency, two existing CICs (CIC microGUNE and CIC nanoGUNE), a nanoincubator and a venture capital nanofund.
From 2009 onwards, SPRI has continued the programmes of the previous stage, regrouped into two major strategic lines, COMPITE and LIDERA, and has launched several new programmes aimed at supporting the maintenance of economic activity and employment in Basque companies in the crisis that began in 2008 (RESISTE). At the end of 2010, SPRI changed its name to Society for Competitive Transformation, and extended its corporate purpose to include promotion in the trade and tourism sectors, in line with the strategy of boosting the competitive transformation of the Basque economy as set out in the 2010-2013 Business Competitiveness Plan approved by the Basque Government. Nevertheless, the Company maintains its acronym as a consolidated and prestigious brand.
Translated with DeepL.com (free version)