Successful investment projects in the growth area

Axa Assistance
The service centre for AXA Assistance Germany, an internationally operational service and insurance company, opened in Frankfurt (Oder) in May 2006. The company’s Frankfurt Assistance Center employs approx. 180 staff, who look after international companies from the automotive, tourism and credit card sectors. Employees in Frankfurt (Oder) also deal with the new ‘TierPartner’ programme, a high-performance health insurance for dogs and cats.

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Call24
Call24 telemarketing GmbH is a member of the Getaline network and acts as an inbound and outbound service provider, as well as handling e-mail processing and new media. call24 telemarketing GmbH was founded with the support of the Investor Center Ostbrandenburg in 1999. Its first headquarters was an old GDR department store in Berliner Straße in Frankfurt (Oder) where it employed approx. 60 staff. Strong growth due to constant incoming orders led call 24 to move to Spitzkrugring in Frankfurt (Oder) in 2008, where it now employs more than 380 staff.  Fixed teams of qualified staff, almost all of whom are permanently employed, are assigned to each customer project. From its site in Frankfurt (Oder), it also serves the Polish market with the help of native speakers.
It is currently looking to recruit approx. 80 new staff members.

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Conergy AG
Conergy SolarModules GmbH & Co. KG is based in Frankfurt (Oder) and operates one of the most modern sites for solar module production in the world. More than 3,000 high-power modules run off the production line daily on a total production area of 35,000m², corresponding to a production capacity of 250 MW. Its value creation chain is fully automated across three production areas, from the basic element silicon to wafer, cell and finished module, all of which are fully integrated under a single roof. Conergy supplies premium-quality PowerPlus modules to 16 countries around the world and currently employs 750 people at its site in Frankfurt (Oder).

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Deutsche Telekom
Deutsche Telekom is housed in a separate building on Spitzkrugring in Frankfurt (Oder) where it currently employs around 500 staff. Following internal restructuring at the start of 2009, as well as processing ‘board of management’ complaints here, it also handles complaints by private or business customers, which contact the company from throughout Germany. Deutsche Telekom makes use of the routing method whereby queries are always relayed to the call centre that currently has free capacity.

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D+S Europe
D+S Europe is as a full-service service provider for value-based, multimedia and holistic customer contact management. Regardless of the communication method, D+S Europe manages contacts for leading international companies with millions of private customers. It also operates online shops and pan-European e-commerce transactions for famous brands. The company located to Frankfurt (Oder) in mid-2000 and currently employs more than 500 staff.

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First Solar
The foundation stone for the first solar module factory with four production lines was laid by First Solar in Frankfurt (Oder) in 2006. By 2007, production was already running at full capacity and, owing to dedicated assistance from municipal, state and federal authorities together with its positive experiences and a lack of bureaucracy in dealings between city and company, First Solar opted to double its production capacities in the city in mid-2010. A further four production lines are due to open, producing the latest thin solar modules in a new plant in Frankfurt (Oder) in the fourth quarter of 2011. First Solar currently employs around 700 staff at its site in Frankfurt Oder, with the expansion of the plant due to create some 500 additional jobs. In 2010 the “Great Place to Work” institute named First Solar one of the best employers in Germany.

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5N Plus Inc.
The Canadian company 5N Plus Inc. is based in Montreal in Quebec and has been operating in Eisenhüttenstadt since 2008 as 5N PV GmbH, a plant for the manufacture of highly purified basic materials for the solar industry. Its product range includes cadmium telluride and cadmium sulphide, as well as the preparation of materials for solar module production. 5N PV is also an important supplier for US company First Solar and currently employs around 60 staff members at its production site in Eisenhüttenstadt.

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IHP
The IHP (Innovations for High Performance Microelectronics) conducts interdisciplinary and application-oriented research and development in the area of high-performance microelectronics and communication, in particular in materials research for technological development and circuit and system design. The IHP’s goal is to strengthen German and European industry in the area of high technology and also to link up higher education institutes with partners from industry. An institute of the Leibniz Society, the IHP pursues long-term goals and combines both basic and applied research. The IHP employs 270 staff from more than 20 countries.

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Institute for Solar Technology
The IST (Institute for Solar Technology) was founded in 1994. Research at the institute focuses on the development and manufacture of special low-cost solar modules based on a world first - a new type of flexible thin solar cell. The basis for this new, flexible solar cell is the compound semiconductor, copper-indium-disulphide (CuInS2).

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Medent
MEDENT GmbH in Eisenhüttenstadt provides comprehensive services and professional consultation services for statutory health insurance companies. Based on number of staff, its branch in Eisenhüttenstadt is the largest in the Munich-based Medent group of companies. The company commenced operations at the site in 1998. Recently, in 2009, the company expanded by opening a new branch, creating yet more jobs for the region in the process. Over the next few years, the number of jobs at its sites in the EKO Industry Park and at Pionierweg in Eisenhüttenstadt is set to grow to around 500.

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Odersun AG
Odersun AG develops and manufactures thin solar cells and modules. The technological basis for this is provided by its patented CISCuT production process (copper-indium disulphide on copper strip), which has been developed entirely at the site since 1994. Pilot production began in its Sun One plant in Frankfurt (Oder) in 2007 and, in summer 2010, its “Sun Two” factory was opened in Fürstenwalde (Spree). The company currently employs 3330 staff in both Berlin and East Brandenburg. It focuses on the development and production of customized solar components for building integration.

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Progroup AG
Progroup AG commenced production of raw paper for corrugated cardboard production via its subsidiary Propapier PM2 GmbH using the highest-capacity paper mill in the world in Eisenhüttenstadt on 15.03.2010. Following a record time of just 15 months, it successfully commenced paper manufacture at its production site on an industrial estate on the Oder-Spree canal, which cost approx. 400 million euros. This created a total of 175 direct high-tech jobs at the 350,000 m² site as well as 500 more throughout the region.

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Walter Services
Walter Services is a BPO partner for all customer value-adding processes. The company offers CRM-relevant solutions for the optimisation of prospective and existing customer relations, from customer services to sales. The company is based in Ettlingen near Karlsruhe and commenced its operations in Frankfurt (Oder) on 1st January 2005. It initially appointed 300 new staff, in particular to cover the increasing demand for telemarketing projects in the areas of logistics services and telecommunications. The company in particular uses staff with a fluent knowledge of various languages (including Polish) to work on international hotlines. Staff at Walter Services has almost trebled within six years and it currently employs more than 800 staff at its branch in Frankfurt (Oder).

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Yamaichi Electronics Deutschland
The product range of Yamaichi Electronics Deutschland in Frankfurt (Oder) includes cable and connector systems. To guarantee constant premium quality with electro-mechanical parts, it uses only the latest processes for production and quality control. Its proximity to solar companies in the region has led the company to produce numerous preliminary products for the photovoltaic industry worldwide. The Japanese company started production in Frankfurt (Oder) in 2006 with 14 staff members. It now employs more than 250 and is planning to further expand its manufacturing site.