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Funding & Finance

Supporting business is our speciality. We support entrepreneurs and new businesses looking to set up or expand in the city and district of Cuxhaven. Do you have questions, concerns, requests? Feel free to contact us.

We are here to help

The Cuxhaven Agency for Economic Development is your specialist point of contact for any questions relating to regional business development. We can provide you with information on all public funding programmes (GRW (individual funding from the community "Promoting regional business", EMFF
(European Maritime and Fisheries Fund), etc.), provide advice for your business plans and inform you of any grants or other funding opportunities which may be available to you.

Furthermore, we also manage our own funding initiative supporting investment and job creation in small and medium-sized businesses throughout the Cuxhaven region ("KMU Programme")

Ultimately, our job is to put you in touch with the right points of contact at the relevant local authorities and associations. If you wish to find out about funding opportunities outside of the district of Cuxhaven, we can also consult with our contract partner, MCON Consulting, to help you with your enquiry.

Support for investment and job creation in small and medium-sized business throughout the Cuxhaven region ("KMU Programme")

Do you wish to expand your company or set up a new line of business and , in doing so, create new jobs? Then the so-called KMU Programme offered by the district of Cuxhaven may be of interest to you.

Who may submit applications?

Applications are open to small and medium-sized commercial enterprises in industry and the skilled trades, commerce, the service sector, the construction and transport industry, the hotel industry with more than 10 beds, as well as general practitioners with a registered office and permanent establishment in the district of Cuxhaven. This applies correspondingly to planned start-ups with headquarters in the district of Cuxhaven. Investments for the establishment and expansion of an operating facility are subsidized if at least one additional work or training place is created and this can be secured for three years together with the existing workforce. The total eligible costs of the investment project must amount to at least € 25,000.

The investment aid is granted in the form of non-repayable grants related to capital equipment. The amount of the grants is up to 15% for medium-sized and up to 20% for small companies, but a maximum of € 5,000 for each newly created permanent job. The maximum subsidy for an investment project amounts to € 20,000. A decision on the funding is made in the course of planning rounds. Each complete application will be evaluated on the cut-off date on the basis of a check sheet, so that the subsidies can be used in a targeted manner. The planning rounds will take place every six months on the cut-off dates 15.02. and 15.08.

In order to avoid long waiting periods for companies willing to invest in the implementation of their projects, it is planned to issue a confirmation regarding the basic eligibility of the project shortly after receipt of the application. Upon receipt of this letter, the company may start to implement the project without any negative impact on the funding. However, this does not constitute an approval of funding.

Further information

Directive

Directive on the promotion of investment and job creation in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the rural district of Cuxhaven (document in German)

Application form

(form in German)

Scoring sheet

(document in German)

Help sheet "Freiberufler"

(document in German)

Investing in Micro-Businesses for Basic Resources

The state representative for the Lower Saxony Chamber of Trade (Landesvertretung der Handwerkskammern Niedersachsen, LHN) advises businesses to make greater use of grants for integrated rural development (German: Zuwendungen zur integrierten ländlichen Entwicklung, ZILE). The institution has created an information leaflet to raise awareness of these funding initiatives. Measures to guarantee basic resources in rural regions provided by relevant micro-businesses were made eligible for funding initiatives for the first time following a revision of the ZILE guidelines last year. These grants are guaranteed as non-repayable subsidies for the purpose of investing in such initiatives.

In order to be eligible for funding, the business or operation must be involved in providing rural populations with basic resources. The provision of basic resources can be understood as the meeting the needs of the population with goods and services "required for use on a daily to weekly basis, and even an occasional basis, where such is potentially essential in a particular location and considered necessary for life."

"We believe that the term 'basic resources' should be interpreted broadly," explains Hildegard Sander, Director in Chief of the LHN. "This means that the village baker providing for basic food needs in the area is of huge importance. And the availability of a heating technician at short notice is crucial during the cold months of the year."

The deadline for applications is always September 15th.

Contact:

Lüneburg Department for Regional Development
Bremerhaven Administrative Office
Anna-Maria Krone
Borriesstr. 46
27570 Bremerhaven
Tel.: +49 (0)471 / 183-288
E-Mail Anna-Maria.Krone@arl-lg.niedersachsen.de

www.handwerk-lhn.de

Further information

Funding for Individual Enterprises (GRW)

In regions which are particularly economically underdeveloped there is an additional funding scheme offered by the federal and state government to support local industry. The district of Cuxhaven is one of four districts in the former administrative region of Lüneburg, which is a so-called "grade-C developing region" and therefore eligible to receive particular support from the community initiative called "Improving regional industry" (Verbesserung der regionalen Wirtschaftsstruktur, GRW). This programme generally caters to businesses which mainly conduct sales beyond the borders of their own region or accommodation facilities with more than ten beds. Since the highest level of funding is capped at two million euros, this funding body is best suited for supporting larger investment projects.

The authority responsible for approving requests for funding from the GRW is NBank in Hanover. Advice regarding applications is available from the Agency for Economic Development.

All documentation with information about this programme is available on the NBank homepage.

MikroSTARTer (loan scheme)

Founders, entrepreneurs and new businesses throughout Lower Saxony are now eligible to apply for a MikroSTARTer loan, even up to five years after the business was founded. These mini-loans are intended to make up for funding shortfalls for potential businesses which are just starting out. There is funding available for both investments and start-up capital. NBank grants loans between 5,000 and 25,000 euros directly to the lender.

MikroSTARTer provides funding for both full-time and part-time start-ups as well as for company successions and business expansions. The loan can be used, for instance, to finance vehicles used for business purposes, machinery, office furniture and equipment, marketing purposes, goods storage or training expenses. There is no security deposit payable. The term of the loan may be anywhere between 2 and 5 years. There is no repayment required for the first six months following the loan; it is possible to make special repayments at any time. The interest rate is fixed for the entire term of the loan and is currently set at 3.5% per annum. Before credit can be granted, the application for the loan must first be approved by a relevant specialist authority. In the case of the district of Cuxhaven, the Agency for Economic Development, the Coordinating Authority for Women in Industry and the Cuxhaven Chamber of Industry and Commerce (IHK-Geschäftsstelle Cuxhaven) are accredited as specialist authorities.

Prospective or fledgling entrepreneurs submit their documents to one of these specialist authorities. This includes a business plan for new businesses or a description of projects planned for existing businesses. A profitability model for the next three years is also required for the application in addition to an outline of investments and funding and a CV. The specialist authorities use these documents to assess the applicants, their proposed plans and the market situation. A positive assessment by the specialist authority is required to proceed to the next stage of the application process.
The application is made online via the new NBank customer portal.

The authority responsible for approving MikroSTARTer applications for funding is NBank in Hanover (documentation with information about this programme).

The European Maritime and Fisheries Fund

The European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF) was established following regulation (EG) no. 508/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 Mai 2014. Just as in the previous funding round from 2007 to 2013 with the European Fisheries Fund (EFF), there are also various funding opportunities available for the sustainable development of sectors of the fishing and aquaculture industries in the current round of funding from 2014-2020. There will be four funding guidelines for the EMFF in Lower Saxony, one of which is the Cuxhaven Agency for Economic Development which is particularly responsible for overseeing the implementation of the guideline regulating funding for the sustainable development of fishing industry sector of North Sea coast off Lower Saxony (Niedersächsische Nordseeküste).

The authority responsible for funding projects is the Lower Saxony Chamber of Agriculture.

Both the regional manager of the fishing industry sector, Niedersächsische Nordseeküste, Frank Schnieder and the Chairman of the advisory board for the fishing industry sector, Marco Witthohn, are available to respond to any queries.

You can find all of the EMFF funding information you require on the website.

Funding & Finance

Lower Saxony start-up grant for craftsmen

Small or medium-sized businesses (KMU) in the craftsmanship sector may receive a grant for a start-up or company succession to be used to recruit a permanent employee who will be liable to pay social security contributions. At a glance: Funding the creation of a permanent position, subject to social security contributions, bolstering the start-up environment of small and medium-sized businesses, funding in the amount of 10,000 euros. Further details on the programme:

Start-up grant for craftsmen

Lower Saxony introduces new Digitalbonus.Niedersachsen funding programme

With its new funding initiative, Digitalbonus.Niedersachsen, NBank provides funding for digital investments. Businesses receive a non-repayable grant of up to 10,000 euros for investments in digital hardware, software and IT security. Applications can be made to NBank. Further information:
Digitalbonus.Niedersachsen

We provide you with information on all public funding programmes (GRW, EMFF, etc.). We also provide our own funding initiative for investments and job creation in small and medium-sized businesses throughout the district of Cuxhaven ("KMU Programme")