Meet the Tampere City Region: Kangasala

– What is Kangasala known for, CEO Päivi Kuusivaara of Business Kangasala?

Every Finn knows our beautiful nature with lakes and eskers as described in a famous song called Kesäpäivä Kangasalla (A Summer Day in Kangasala). People come to Kangasala for cultural events, museum cars, osprey spotting and horses. In business our best known speciality is food industry: for example Saarioinen, Atria, Linkosuo, and producers of local food.

There is a novelty area for housing and business called Lamminrahka, where commercial properties are built next to services and good public transport connections. Saarenmaa business area awaits new industries and in Tarastenjärvi circular economy is the key word. We are also developing our City centre, because it is the heart of Kangasala.

– What makes the Tampere City Region strong?

Our location in Finland is just perfect and the cost of living much more moderate that in the metropolitan area. The atmosphere is international and English is spoken everywhere. Due to the Tampere University and various vocational schools there is skilled labour available for all kinds of jobs. 

OAC Finland started by importing outdoor sports gear, and then expanded to manufacturing. OAC tour skates and skinbased skis are now exported around the world. In addition, OAC is a composite manufacturing specialist.

– Why is OAC Finland located in Kangasala, CEO Miika Vuorio?

Me and my wife Reetta Vuorio started the business at home, and after some expansions and relocations OAC still designs and manufactures all the main products here in Kangasala. Nowadays we have several local subcontractors – we aim to make locally everything we can, and in this region this is easy to accomplish.

Kangasala offers an excellent environment for all sorts of outdoor nature activities, with the most impressive eskers in Finland. In fact, we first designed the OAC skinbased skis because we wanted to use them ourselves and enjoy the local terrain. Kangasala is also a neat place to balance business and family life – it’s fifteen minutes from work to home in the country, no time spent in traffic jams.

– How’s Kangasala for international business?

OAC is going global and growing the export business significantly. The Tampere City Region is a fine location to achieve these goals, with for example reasonable transport costs and times. A container full of OAC skis will be on its way without any difficulty or delay.

International business also means a need to travel. I’m using the Tampere-Pirkkala Airport frequently, and it’s always very easy and quick to catch your flight at a small airport like Pirkkala. Also, when our customers visit us, it’s very useful they can reach the destination by plane.

Neonelektro has a long experience of illuminated signs and today it is also an expert in all fields of signage – everything that helps people to find products or services they are looking for.

– Why is Neonelektro located in Kangasala, CEO Mika Liedes?

The company has been in Kangasala since the very beginning. It is a logistically suitable location with reasonable distances to all major cities in Finland. That is important for us, because we manufacture large custom-made products.

There are several manufacturers of illuminated signs in the Tampere Region, some of them dating back to 1950s and all of them ensuring the knowhow stays in the region. The companies are competitors but the competition is fair, and cooperative when needed.

– How’s the Tampere City Region as a business environment?

 We’ve got good relations with the City of Kangasala. The City understands what companies need and deals with things in a win-win manner. The local entrepreneur organisations operate well and, further to that, things related to education, internationalisation and financing are managed in an excellent way in our region.

Neonelektro goes to international markets, too, with customers in the Nordics, Great Britain and Russia, and we gain new contacts through our international business networks.