Smart tech expertise and development
The manufacturing industry is one of the most significant business ecosystems in the Kuopio region and includes the fields of mechanical engineering and automation, energy and material technology. More than half of the export revenue of the Kuopio region comes from industry.
Global companies have chosen Kuopio as their location above all due to the good supply of skilled labour, the pro-business atmosphere and the broad partner network. A unique characteristic of the industry ecosystem in Kuopio is the strong collaboration between businesses, higher education institutions and public sector partners. This collaboration supports the role of the region as an innovative and developing location, excellent for high-value industry.
The Kuopio region is home to several international industrial companies, such as Ponsse, Normet, Profile Vehicles, Genelec and Junttan. Savonia University of Applied Sciences, Savo Vocational College, University of Eastern Finland (UEF) and other regional partners support the industry ecosystem by educating skilled labour and by providing a wide range of support services for businesses.
Upper Savo forms a particularly strong hub of technology, and its regional competence centre KesTech offers industrial companies a service for developing their expertise, enabling business growth and development in the region. The multi-campus model formed by Savonia UAS, Ylä-Savo Vocational College and UEF enables cross-institutional collaboration where RDI activities are developed to fulfil the needs of the manufacturing industry in the region.
