International Development Centre - Zheleznogorsk

The IDC is a non-governmental not-for-profit organization, dedicated to providing services in the field of business development. The centre was established by the City Administration in 1999 with financial support from the US-funded Nuclear Cities Initiative. IDC has actively participated in the Closed Nuclear Closed Cities Partnership since 2004 and serves as coordinator for the Programme in the City.

In recent years, the economies of the Closed Cities have tended to become more and more integrated into the economies of their surrounding regions. This process is in the first place linked to enterprise conversion, and in particular to the conversion of the city’s main enterprises. All the infrastructure of the Closed Cities was created to meet the needs of these enterprises. As a result, most municipal structures today do not reflect the need for services which promote development, such as conversion projects, and projects which open up completely new directions for business.

Collaborative business development organisations such as IDCs and BDA are among the most important elements of the new infrastructure of the Closed Cities.

IDC Zheleznogorsk is involved in the following types of activities:

• Consultancy and specialist support for business projects;
• Targeted training, re-training and improving the qualifications of entrepreneurs and specialists;
• Support in the fields of information and technical assistance for business and also for international collaboration programmes.

We assist with the preparation of business plans and company development strategies, carry out risk assessments and financial analysis, estimate the market value of businesses and also undertake market research. More than 400 cases are handled every year.

From 2007, under a contract from the Administration of the Krasnoyarsk Krai, IDC has implemented a project called «The creation of a distance information and consultation business incubator in the Krasnoyarsk Krai», which enables the IDC to offer the following operational support for entrepreneurs in the Krasnoyarsk Krai through Internet sites.

The virtual business incubator includes more than 130,000 pages of information and has more than 20,000 visitors a month.

Through the CNCP Programme, between 2004 and October 2008, 14 projects received financial support, 11 of these were commercial projects.

• Total value of projects more than £3,8 million.
• CNCP contribution more than £1,57 million.
• Anticipated number of jobs 510 (326 for former employees of the Mining and Chemical Kombinat).
• Number of jobs already created 422 (206 for former MCC employees).

Periodically, seminars and training initiatives are carried out in the IDC Study Centre on subjects such as effective selling, stress-management, conflict resolution, time management, motivational training, and team building.

In addition to short term courses organized through the IDC Study Centre, training has been provided for entrepreneurs and managers with the support of CNCP through LINK international management institute courses: “The Professional Manager” and “The Corporate Manager”. So far, more than 40 individuals have successfully completed training.

In the period from 2000 to 2007, based on the IDC study centre and with the support of the NCI and CNCP Programmes, 183 Zheleznogorsk specialists undertook retraining through the President’s Programme.

The Zheleznogorsk business gateway was established with financial support from CNCP. The aim of this project was to enlarge the field of information available for small businesses, facilitate partner search and open up new market outlets. As a result of the creation of the portal, city entrepreneurs can now disseminate information about their companies, their products and their services on the “Zheleznogorsk virtual trade fair” free of cost.

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