Tampere is second in terms of its overall impression and image when the study examines municipalities with more than 40,000 inhabitants. The top ten are Seinäjoki, Tampere, Vaasa, Kuopio, Joensuu, Hyvinkää, Lahti, Nurmijärvi, Kokkola and Helsinki.
According to business decision-makers, Tampere's strengths include the availability of labour, co-operation between municipalities and companies, and support for innovations. Strengthening vitality, the city centre's commercial services and co-operation between companies and educational institutions are also essential factors for which Tampere receives good ratings.
- The decisions made about the future in Tampere now bear fruit. We are satisfied with these results and happy about them. However, also in the future, the positive image will also require goal-oriented work to develop vitality, says Mayor Kalervo Kummola.
In the Kuntien Imago 2023 study by Taloustutkimus, the interviewees also evaluated business companies. According to the views of business decision-makers, Business Tampere received the best overall impression rating of its peer group (Business Jyväskylä, Turku Sience Park Oy, Business Oulu, Business Espoo) with an average score of 7.56 (all municipalities 7.39).
From the perspective of potential companies, the best aspects of Tampere's image factors were location in terms of transport and transportation connections, as well as the commercial services in the city centre. The promotion of international competence and work-related immigration, as well as the availability of labour were also seen as positive factors in Tampere.
The municipalities in the Tampere urban region that participated in the study were also very successful as a whole. According to Harri Airaksinen, CEO of Business Tampere Oy, the experience of good co-operation between municipalities, which is also reflected in the services of the joint business company, is noteworthy.
- Our company's services have been used by one third of the respondents, which can be considered rather good in terms of effectiveness. The ease of working with us and the overall rating are the best in the peer group.
- Our main task is to strengthen vitality, which is supported, among other things, by supporting and marketing innovations. We are among the top three when these sub-areas are assessed. We are happy about the positive feedback and promise to improve further, says Airaksinen.
In total, business decision-makers, a total of 2,826 people, assessed the 53 municipalities with more than 20,000 inhabitants in Finland and businesses operating in their area. The number of municipalities had been increased since last year (+17). This time, business decision-makers also assess municipalities on the basis of their image, even if they do not have activities in the area in question.
The interviews were conducted as a telephone-informed online survey, and the data collection has been supplemented by an internet panel of Taloustutkimus. The data was collected between 21 August and 23 October 2023.
