City of Winterthur extends agreement with location promotion organisation
The House of Winterthur is to focus on marketing the location for business, education, culture and tourism. The service agreement provides for a total of CHF 3.04 million until 2029, CHF 400,000 less than before. The city will once again be responsible for promoting the location.
The new service agreement between the city of Winterthur and the House of Winterthur provides for an adjustment of the organisation’s tasks. The House of Winterthur should focus on strengthening the Winterthur Switzerland brand and on the strategic marketing of the location for business, education, culture and tourism, according to a statement from the city.
This includes making the hidden champions among the companies and the diversity of the local business landscape visible. Innovation and knowledge transfer are to be strengthened through targeted networking and new event formats, among other things. The House of Winterthur will also actively support start-ups.
Operational location promotion, on the other hand, will once again be the responsibility of the city. This includes company relocations, portfolio management and space brokerage.
The city intends to support the House of Winterthur with CHF 760,000 per year between 2026 and 2029, CHF 100,000 per year less than before. The final say lies with the city parliament.
In a statement, the House of Winterthur recalls that the city’s contribution was CHF 960,000 per year when the organisation was founded in 2017. Beat Schwab, President of the House of Winterthur, which is organised as an association, refers to the new management and other changes in personnel. “There is a spirit of optimism at House of Winterthur,” he is quoted as saying in the press release. “It would be a shame if excessive pressure to save money were to jeopardise this development and seriously impair the sustainable promotion of the location as well as the management of company relocations.”
The association is supported by the city, the neighbouring municipalities and over 400 members.