RDA Koroška, the Regional Development Agency for Koroška (RRA Koroška), is an entity that promotes regional development, carries out public-interest tasks regarding the Koroška region, and offers professional support to the Koroška Regional Council, the Koroška Regional Development Council, the Koroška Regional Development Network, as well as other holders of the regional development policy.

RDA Koroška is authorised by the Koroška Regional Council to implement general development and other tasks for the promotion of regional development in the area of the Koroška development region. In accordance with the Promotion of Balanced Regional Development Act (Ur. l. RS., No. 20/11 and 57/12, hereinafter referred to as ZSRR-2) and the Rules of the Regional Development Agencies (Ur. l. RS., No. 3/13), RDA Koroška is entered in the register of regional development agencies with the Ministry of Economic Development and Technology.

The agency carries out general development tasks in the Koroška region in the 2014–2020 planning period.

The Regional Chamber of Craft and Small Business Radlje ob Dravi.

RDA Koroška was founded in 2000 as a limited liability company. Its ownership structure is divided among all local communities of the Koroška region (41.18 %); the state – the Slovenian Regional Development Fund (33.54 %); companies – local business centres (9.48 %), as well as the Koroška Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the regional chambers of craft and small business (15.80 %). The ownership structure indicates its compliance with the requirements of the ZSRR-2A Act. The majority share of RDA Koroška is public property, with the municipalities having the majority holding within the public share (however, no municipality owns more than a third of the founders' share).

The agency is entered in the court register at the Slovenj Gradec District Court under the 1/09747/00Srg2001/00386 (17. 12. 2001) entry number. It is specified in the contract of members that the purpose of the agency is to promote regional and local development in the economic, social, and environmental fields. RDA Koroška is a non-profit organisation – the profit is not divided among the partners but is invested into development as well as into regional projects.

RDA Koroška carries out the preparation and implementation of regional development programmes in the Koroška region. The 2014–2020 Regional Development Programme for the Koroška Region is therefore the third programme that RDA Koroška has prepared, coordinated, and monitored, after preparing, coordinating, and monitoring the regional development programmes for the 2002–2006 and the 2007–2013 planning periods (including the implementation plans).

In cooperation with the regional holders of the wood-processing industry, RDA Koroška coordinated the elaboration of The Koroška Region Wood-Processing Development Strategy (2014).

By authority of the Koroška Regional Development Council, RDA Koroška drew up A Study of the Possible Development of the Main Road Network in the Koroška Region (2014) – with the document analysing road problems in Koroška and the cessation of the preparation of the National Spatial Plan on certain road sections, as well as provide proposals for the restoration of state roads and the promotion of procedures for the construction of the third development axis.

RDA Koroška also coordinated the preparation of the Regional Concept of Spatial Development in the Koroška Region (with the holder being the Urban Planning Institute of the Republic of Slovenia, 2004).

The Koroška Guarantee Scheme
RDA Koroška had already set up its own regional guarantee scheme in 2000, with its basic purpose to support the promotion of the small industry development, encourage investments, and create new jobs. RDA Koroška provides the administrative and technical conditions for the performance of the guarantee scheme, as well as the management, supervision, and representation of the scheme vis-à-vis others. The management board, the guarantee board, banks, and entrepreneurs (members of the Koroška Guarantee Scheme) are also included in the implementation.

The Koroška Regional Scholarship Scheme
RDA Koroška had already set up its own regional scholarship scheme model in the Koroška region in 2005, with the intent to solve the labour market problems more effectively, to meet the needs of employers, students, and secondary-school students, and to encourage prospective and talented youth to stay in the region. Since then, RDA Koroška continually carries out the regional scholarship scheme. In the first 10 years of the Regional Scholarship Scheme implementation, around 120 employers have been included, more than 500 scholarships have been awarded to students and secondary-school students, and more than 150 scholarship holders have already found employment in the Koroška region.

Entrepreneurially in the Business World (Podjetno v svet podjetništva, PVSP)
is a model of entrepreneurial training, having the aim of decreasing the unemployment rate among the vulnerable target groups of the population (the unemployed, the youth, the highly educated, etc.). The aim is achieved by including participants into the entrepreneurial training programme. Within the programme, the participants develop and realise their business idea in 4 months. The aim after the finished training is for the participants to found their own company and find employment within it, to become self-employed, or to find employment within another company. RDA Koroška was carrying out the PVSP 2013 and the PVSP 2014 projects between 2013 and 2015 (other Slovenian regions were also participating). Now, it is carrying out the PVSP Project for Problem Areas. It is intended for the unemployed from the Radlje ob Dravi, Podvelka, and Ribnica na Pohorju municipalities.

The Koroška Business Incubator Network (Mrežni podjetniški inkubator Koroška, MPIK)
operates in four municipalities in the Koroška region (Dravograd, Radlje ob Dravi, Ravne na Koroškem, and Slovenj Gradec). It represents an important element of entrepreneurial support environment in Koroška. It offers low-cost rental of office or manufacturing premises to potential entrepreneurs and young companies, as well as provides them with entrepreneurial support services, such as advising, workshops, networking, etc. The aim is to increase entrepreneurial activity, and by that, to develop new products/services, as well as create new high-quality jobs.

Internationalisation

Entering into foreign markets is quite challenging for micro-, small, and medium-sized enterprises. To ensure the entry is as smooth as possible, the Regional Development Agency for Koroška (RRA Koroška) organises various workshops on how to prepare to enter foreign markets. It participates in joint appearances at fairs domestically and internationally, promotes international events, and provides information and support to entrepreneurs when applying for these events. RRA Koroška employs experts from various fields who offer support to young entrepreneurs at the beginning of their business path.

Attracting Investors and a Base of Investment Holders in the Koroška Region

The Invest Koroška office collects data on immovable property that is being sold or is in search of co-owners. The investment holders are divided into the following categories: land, buildings, new works, new products, new market entry, and ownership entry. Invest Koroška participates in the preparation of data as well as carries out promotional activities at various fairs, events, conferences, online, etc.

As part of the activities, RDA Koroška is also strongly involved in project implementation. Since being founded, it has served as the holder, project partner, or as professional support to other regional project holders in dozens of projects in the region. The more prominent regional projects implemented in the recent years have been the following:

Since its very founding, RDA Koroška places great value on activities in the field of trans-boundary cooperation with the neighbouring Austria. These are based on informing regional bodies, helping with the development of high-quality project ideas, setting up contacts among potential project partners on both sides of the boundary, as well as implementing common projects. In the recent planning periods, RDA Koroška was actively involved in more than 20 different trans-boundary projects between Austria and Slovenia. Within the last Slovenia-Austria 2007–2013 Operational Programme, RDA Koroška collaborated in the following three projects as the project partner: HIKING & BIKING, i.e. recreation in nature – hiking and cycling across borders; karavanke@future.eu (nature management in the European region of the future), and the Karavanke Geopark (the establishment of a trans-boundary geopark between Mt. Peca (Petzen) and the Košuta Massif (Koschuta).