In 2021 Novartis announced its intention to develop further its Austrian campus in Kundl/Schaftenau in Tyrol by attracting companies from the life sciences sector. An attractive research and production site, the Life Science Campus, is being created that benefits from excellent, competitive production conditions in the heart of Europe and close proximity to Switzerland, Italy and Germany.
For the companies located in the Life Science Campus, this offers comprehensive, high-quality services in the areas of facility management, energy supply, engineering, maintenance, logistics and environmentally friendly wastewater treatment, as well as the opportunity to concentrate fully on their core businesses. The further development into a life science park also sends another positive signal for Tyrol as a business location, as Mario Riesner, Managing Director of Novartis Kundl/Schaftenau, explains: “By opening up the site, Novartis is enabling companies to settle here that can benefit from each other. This will create a very diverse industrial location that has great potential for creativity and innovation and will bring even more added value to Tyrol.”
This development underscores the great importance of high-quality training opportunities at the campus, which in the future will be made available not only to Novartis but also to other companies. “In this way, we are sending a strong signal, which also supports the life sciences strategy of the state of Tyrol and the establishment of another health hub,” explains Mario Riesner.
For 67 years, the Novartis site in Kundl/Schaftenau, Tyrol, has been training young people and adults to become highly qualified employees whose know-how contributes significantly to the success of the company. This training will now be expanded and placed on an even broader footing in the future. With WIFI Tyrol (Wirtschaftsförderungsinstitut), a long-standing and professional partner has been gained which will combine WIFI’s extensive expertise in the entire field of vocational training with the decades-long know-how of the Novartis Training Center in the newly founded AXILS GmbH (Academy for Excellence in Life Sciences). The Institute for Economic Development (WIFI) is an Austrian organization for vocational adult education which provides industry-oriented training. They offer over 30 000 courses for around 350 000 participants a year.
“WIFI Tyrol has stood for vocational training in Tyrol for many years. The fact that we are now able to provide increased support to Novartis, a leading Tyrolean company and one of the largest companies involved in the training of skilled workers, underscores our consistent orientation as the education partner for Tyrolean companies. We are pleased to be able to contribute our expertise in securing skilled workers,” explains Manfred Pletzer, Chairman of the WIFI Tyrol Advisory Board and Vice President of the Tyrolean Chamber of Commerce.
