History of the founding city of Offenbach

Together, they applied to the state of Hesse for funding of around 100,000 euros to strengthen the "entrepreneurial spirit" (the political term) in the city. The application was accompanied and supported by the IHK Offenbach, the HfG Hochschule für Gestaltung and the Wirtschaftsjunioren, who later also became partners in the initiative. This strong network gave rise to many projects that provided important impetus in the city.

In the beginning, the activities focused on classic consulting, training and networking offers, such as consultation days, information evenings, specialist seminars and entrepreneur evenings. After some time of cooperation, however, the partners also dared to undertake larger joint projects. This resulted in the initiative's "beacon" in 2006: the "Gründercampus ostpol°". The start-up and creative center in Offenbach was made possible after the city's economic development agency and GBO Baugesellschaft Offenbach joined the initiative in 2005. Today, ostpol° is still the central point of attraction when it comes to business start-ups in Offenbach. Another highlight is the "Offenbacher Gründerkompass", which lists all the contacts in the city and their services relating to business start-ups. The "GO-Magazin" has also been published regularly (twice a year) for almost 20 years now, in which start-up stories are told, events are presented and topics relating to start-ups and self-employment are covered.

The microcredit program "ostpolkredit°" for Offenbach's self-employed, which emerged from the Gründerstadt initiative, was alsovery successful. It was used to finance a total of 52 small businesses in Offenbach between 2008 and 2014. The capital was provided by the City of Offenbach, Sparkasse Offenbach and KIZ. KIZ was also able to raise five times the Offenbach capital through a program of the Federal Ministry of Labor. Loans totaling 334,000 euros were granted. The repayment rate was an outstanding 97.6 percent.

Currently, the initiative's top offerings are the GO Mentoring program and the popular, topic-related GO events. GO Mentoring brings successful mentors from business and administration together with founders. Several months of support and embedding in a lively network make the program an important component of the initiative. For founders and mentors who want to make a difference in their city, it offers an opportunity to connect with each other and create added value together.
Throughout the year, Gründerstadt Offenbach organizes several GO network events at which the existing network and interested newcomers meet in Offenbach, delve into a special focus topic and exchange ideas intensively

It should also be mentioned that the Offenbach Founder City has not only had a direct impact in Offenbach. It has found numerous imitators at national level and also in Europe. The dissemination of the approach in Great Britain, the Netherlands and Italy was financed by "Art. 6" funds from the ESF (European Social Fund) as part of the "Cities of Entrepreneurs" project and the current mentoring programme was taken to Greece, Spain, Sweden and Italy as part of an INTERREG project and optimized together with the partners.

The fact that the city's strategy and thus the "Gründerstadt Offenbach" initiative was and is a complete success is also shown by the "NUI regional ranking" of the IfM Institut für Mittelstandsforschung Bonn. The "NUI indicator" relates the start-up activity of an independent city/district to the number of inhabitants. It thus measures the start-up activity in a region. From 2007 to 2018, the city of Offenbach led this ranking, making it the "No. 1 start-up city in Germany".

The city would like to thank all partners who have contributed to this success, above all KIZ, which has been successfully managing this project for over 20 years, the Offenbach Chamber of Industry and Commerce, the Rhine-Main Chamber of Crafts/District Craftsmen's Association, the HfG Hochschule für Gestaltung, GBO Baugesellschaft Offenbach, the Employment Agency, the business mentors, the Wirtschaftsjunioren and MainArbeit.