Bamberg is preventing staff shortages in essential industries. Companies can report their HR needs to the employment agency. These vacancies are then published for job seekers to contact those companies directly. Read more (in German) here.
Contact: Patricia Alberth
Debrecen has created a financial aid fund to support those in need. Roughly €60,000 has been provided by the city’s budget. This sum was then augmented by tens of thousand euro by the mayor, companies and private individuals. Read more (in Hungarian) here.
The municipality has also set up an information center to support those in need with three dedicated phone lines. Read more (in Hungarian) here.
Contact: László Mátyus
Debrecen is offering discounts on rent to shops and businesses for which the city is landlord. Those that were forced to temporarily close can apply for a 90% discount on their rental fee until 30 June. Those who stay open with restricted opening hours can apply for a 50% discount. Read more and watch the video announcement of the mayor (in Hungarian) here.
In order to support other businesses the city’s economic development center has initiated an online survey to better understand the challenges companies are facing due to the pandemic. Read more (in Hungarian) here.
Contact: László Mátyus
Gijon has launched a campaign to support the small grocery shops in the city during the confinement period, which are allowed to continue operating despite the general closure of businesses. The campaign informs citizens of the city’s retail stores as an alternative or complement to purchases in wholesale establishments, supermarkets or hypermarkets. The city also indicates which of these businesses deliver at home.
Currently 127 small grocery shops have joined the campaign. Read more (in French) here.
Contact: Enrique Rodríguez
Riga City Council’s Welfare Department has set up a system with certain local hotels used uniquely to allow people without COVID-19 symptons to self-isolate. Guests, who must pay for the service, receive a daily breakfast package and can telephone for other services. Read more here
Contact: Egita Alzsilniece
Barcelona’s mayoral decree on disruptions to municipal public procurement ensures the continuity of public contracts, the liquidity of providers, particularly SMEs, and strives to maintain jobs. Read more here
Contact: Marta Puchal
Small businesses and freelancers in Berlin can get grants of up to €5,000 as emergency aid. The package consists a total of €100 million and is aimed at small and micro enterprises with a maximum of five employees, which have been hit particularly hard by the coronavirus crisis. This includes creative industries and culture. Since culture also needs publicity, the city has initiated ‘Berlin (a)live‘ for online events.
Continue reading “Berlin – Support for local businesses and culture”Small companies and freelance workers in Stuttgart can get help via a new telephone hotline during the corona crisis. Experts from the fields of management consultancy, law, coaching or health offer advice about the virus, hygiene and work regulations and information on economic aid such as grants, support programmes, loans or short-time work.
Continue reading “Stuttgart – Corona hotline for local companies and freelancers”In order to protect jobs and income of freelancers, small and medium enterprises and cultural institutions, the city of Utrecht complements the national Dutch support programme with local initiatives aimed to provide quick results. The measures include suspended collection of taxes and rent as well as compensation for cancelled events. The measures and reassurance have been communicated through a letter in Dutch and English.
Contact: David Langerak
In Odemira (Portugal) reside a significant number of foreign agricultural workers who often live in close quarters. The area hasn’t had many cases of COVID-19 yet, but the municipality believes it’s just a matter of time. This is why mayor José Alberto Guerreiro has prepared a prevention plan for quarantine that takes into account the need to prevent transmission within this population. This includes making several spaces with sanitation services and possibilities to organise meals – like sports and multipurpose pavilions – available to accommodate up to 500 migrants working in agriculture. Read more (in Portuguese) here
Zaragoza has launched a platform for corporate solidarity contributions. The site connects the commitment and resources of private companies with the needs of Zaragoza society in order to face this emergency situation. Five work areas have been set up in which the different companies can lend their help: health, education, entertainment, technology and food. Read more (in Spanish) here.
Contact: Lorena Calvo
Tallinn is working together with local start-ups and communities to offer basic services for people in isolation. On Friday, March 13, 2020, Estonian startup foundation Garage48 launched an online hackathon to figure out ways to help communities during the COVID-19 pandemic. One of the solutions is the web-based platform COVID-Help that connects volunteers from local communities with the most vulnerable members of those communities.
Today there are more than 2000 volunteers connected to this platform who offer practical help, like doing shopping for those in quarantine or just calling and talking to lonely elderly people and thus taking some of the stress off local social workers.
Contact: Kerttu Märtin
Dusseldorf has established an aid fund for local companies to bridge financial distress caused by the coronavirus. The fund includes €500,000, with a maximum of €5,000 per company. This serves as interim aid before the State of North Rhine-Westphalia and the Federal Government offer concrete services for businesses. Read more (in German) here.
Contact: Stefanie Nietfeld
The payment of municipal taxes shall be postponed or compensated for shops, bars and restaurants in Barcelona, to guarantee the liquidity of families, businesses and the self-employed. A special office shall develop personalised plans for companies, entrepreneurs and individuals. This first package of measures has been developed through constant dialogue with the city’s social and economic stakeholders and will be expanded as the situation evolves. Read more here
Contact: Marta Puchal
Antwerp has made €250,000 euro available for innovative, quickly implementable solutions from start-ups and companies that can arm citizens and companies against the impact of the COVID-19 virus and make life possible in lockdown mode. The city launched a call that welcomes (digital) solutions in areas such as welfare, health care, childcare, poverty reduction, working from home, communication and participation and more. The most important criterion is that the idea is feasible in the short term and has a relevant impact and added value for residents, companies or students of Antwerp. Read more (in Dutch) here.
Contact: Kris Van Berendoncks
Barcelona has established, through its local development agency, Barcelona Activa, the on-line and telephone labour right office network to respond to question launched by employees and employers who need to know how to deal with the consequences of the lockdown in their economic activity.
This network of labour rights offices, located in three different districts of the city, was launched by Barcelona Activa in 2017 as a labour market policy’s tool in partnership with the main unions and some employees’ organisations and was included in a Best practices dossier by the United Nations monitoring committee of the SDGs. More information (in Spanish) here.
Contact: Marta Puchal
The European Commission has adopted a temporary framework to enable member states to use the full flexibility foreseen under state aid rules to support the economy in the context of the COVID-19 outbreak: Direct grants, selective tax advantages and advance payments, and state guarantees for loans taken by companies from banks. Member States will also be able to provide state guarantees to ensure banks keep providing loans to the customers that need them. Read more here
To support economic actors from artisans to small enterprises, Nantes is taking a range of actions including tax exemption, a single information point with a dedicated phone number, and funding with the Région des Pays de Loire. Read more here
Contact: Nicolas Joffraud
London’s public transport company is granting a three month reprieve from rent for all small and medium sized businesses located on its property. Read more here
Contact: Ian Catlow
The City of Milan has launched an open call to attract the efforts of private donors. The appeal received €800,000 in its first day. The money will be used to help those most affected by the crisis, and towards the resumption of normal city activities. Read more here
Contact: Olimpia Vaccarino Aureli
Advance payments for artists whose shows have been postponed, subsidies for grassroots culture and a new timing and programme for the festival Grec 2020 to include as many productions by local companies as possible – Barcelona has initiated ten measures to support culture in the city in the face of COVID-19. Read more here
Contact: Marta Puchal
Service providers for the city of Barcelona will continue to be paid even if the execution of their services is suspended. Under the current state of emergency, those contracts remain valid. Read more
Contact: Marta Puchal
Building on good relations with its twinned cities in China, the Porto City Council has secured supplies of new ventilators.
In another partnership, with a local company, the City Council has agreed to start immediate production of personal protective masks.
Contact: Daniel Freitas
European Commissioners Elisa Ferreira, responsible for Cohesion and Reforms; and Nicolas Schmit responsible for Jobs and Social Rights have sent letters to all the EU countries to inform them on the individual support they can receive under the Coronavirus Response Investment Initiative.
The letters, with individual country information are available here
The municipality of Vienna, alongside Vienna Chamber of Commerce, is setting aside €35 million to allow a much quicker municipal response to changing business situations than normal legislation would allow. The largest portion of these funds will be used to help prop up companies of 10 employees or less when they suffer a decline in turnover of more than 50%.
Read more here
Contact: Michaela Kauer or stay up to date at @Stadt_Wien
