José Antonio Rodríguez Araujo, president of the Polígono San Cibrao businessmen, conveyed a message of hope supported by data from a study so recent that it has not yet been completed and, at the same time, raised the level of demand to the administrations in relation to key projects for the Polygon.
The General Assembly of the businessmen of the Polígono San Cibrao returned to normality, being held in person after the telematic version of last year, and showed that, even if little by little, their companies also do it.
Polígono en cifras
José Antonio Rodríguez Araujo, its president, began the report before the Assembly anticipating some data from the study “El Polígono en Cifras”, which is being prepared by the University of Vigo in collaboration with the Diputación de Ourense and will be presented before the end of year.
The available data, explained Rodríguez Araujo, make it possible to make visible the harsh impact of the pandemic and the crisis on companies, but also their capacity for recovery.
On the one hand, as a cold jar of realism, the president of the businessmen explained that six out of ten companies had to suspend their activity at some point; one in two resorted to ERTE; two out of ten spent part or all of their activity teleworking and; 60% did not receive aid from public institutions.
On the other, as a call to hope and recognition of the “titanic” effort of employers and workers, he countered that six out of ten companies have already recovered the turnover they had in 2019 or will do so this year.
“Our tenacity as entrepreneurs, our determination and commitment to our companies and workers gives us the cruising speed that we always have. has characterized this polygon “
But, in addition, in this context of crisis, companies have not stopped doing their homework on other issues that are also of great present and future importance, such as digitization.
The study concludes that most of them have already passed the first digital transformation and are immersed in the next phase, which has to do with automation, industry 4.0 or robotization.
Regardless of the sector in which they are located or their size, eight out of ten companies participating in the study have a website, two out of three have invested in emerging technologies in recent years and one in two uses their own tools or outsiders to market their products on the web.
The conclusion is that the crisis is not being a brake on the digital transformation of companies, but rather on the contrary, it can be one of the levers for their recovery.
Freight station
The businessmen, through their president, urged the administrations to carry out key projects for the Industrial Estate, such as the Railway Freight Station.
Rodríguez Araujo vindicated the work of the last years of the Association. “Now that there is talk of a lack of foresight in relation to the arrival of the AVE, I deny it emphatically in regard to this Association, which presented its proposal for a Freight Station for the first time 11 years ago.”
Once the AVE for travelers has been resolved, businessmen hope that goods will now become the priority.
“It goes without saying that we will continue to fight with all our efforts to make this project a reality, but there is little more we can do. We have done our homework and now it is others who have to do theirs.
We urge you to do so as soon as possible, ”said the President of the Association, who acknowledges that he does not understand how it is possible that a proposal endorsed by all administrations does not advance at a greater speed.
For the rest, he demanded maximum involvement so that the arrival of the AVE really changes the life of the city and the province, for which, he said, it is essential “that we are prepared”, something that, according to him, “is yet to be seen. ”& nbsp;
In any case, he offered the “Ourense Industrial” table, with representation from all administrations, as the ideal forum to talk about it, plan and coordinate.
Expansion of the polygon and improvement of the municipal treatment plant
Other projects also paraded through the Assembly, of which the president of the businessmen gave an account, such as the expansion of the Polígono and the improvement of the municipal treatment plant.
Regarding the first, the board of directors of Xestur authorized in July the tender of the contract for the drafting of the modification of the partial plan and the drafting of the urbanization project for the expansion of the Technology Park, for an amount of 154,000 euros.
Regarding the WWTP, the project will have to undergo a regular environmental evaluation.
“After holding several meetings with the president of the Hydrographic Confederation and the subdelegate of the Government in Ourense, we have approached the general director of Quality and Environmental Assessment and the general director of Water to ask them to speed up this project”, from The execution of which depends on the resolution of the biggest environmental problem facing the industrial area today. & nbsp;
He also reported on the project to reform the interior of the Industrial Estate, which includes actions worth 14 million euros and which has already been presented to the Xunta and the Provincial Council.
Or that all public lighting in the business area is already LED, that lighting has been increased in pedestrian crossings and signs have been installed warning drivers of their speed, which helps to increase road safety.
José Antonio Rodríguez Araujo did not want to finish his intervention without calling for unity “to achieve objectives that are of general interest to our companies, the industrial estate and the province. Our strength lies in unity and proactivity. ”
Closing
Once the agenda was finalized, the assembly was opened to authorities and guests. Among them Víctor Nogueira, president of the Galician Family Business Association, who was in charge of closing.
In this way, the Polígono San Cibrao Entrepreneurs Association wanted to value the role and weight of the family business in the Ourense and Galician economy.