BEA

General Description

The Brussels Enterprise Agency: making life easier for entrepreneurs in Brussels : The Brussels Enterprise Agency is the regional partner for everyone wishing to start up or develop an economic activity in the Brussels-Capital Region. It consists of a multidisciplinary team of fifty-plus people, who undergo continuous training and commit themselves each day to meeting the demands and needs of enterprises.

The BEA's tasks: The BEA was created in January 2003 at the initiative of the Ministry of the Economy of the Brussels-Capital Region. Its efforts are based on two pillars:
■ Informing all entrepreneurs (starters or existing enterprises, SMEs or large companies, investors, based abroad, etc.) on issues such as enterprise creation, financing, public aid, urban planning regulation, environment permits and other formalities.
■ Individual and collective coaching in matters of innovation and internationalisation, mainly as regards projects or enterprises that belong to key sectors in Brussels, or which are of critical importance for the region.

Providing an immediate response to Brussels entrepreneurs' questions:  For anyone wishing to become an entrepreneur in Brussels, there are many questions. Can the enterprise benefit from subsidies? Is there public aid for this project? How can funding be obtained? What formalities must be gone through to create an enterprise? How should one turn to, and with what guarantees? For anyone with a question about their economic activity, the Brussels-Capital Region last year set up an information hotline service: number 1819. A truly regional contact centre for Brussels entrepreneurs, this regional number -exclusively for Brussels entrepreneurs–is operated by the BEA. The 1819 advisors provide a rapid and concrete response to entrepreneurs' questions, steering them towards guidance bodies in Brussels that can help them to make their projects a reality.

Offering more focused coaching for entrepreneurs' projects:  The BEA encourages competitiveness among enterprises by means of innovation and internationalisation, and intensively supports certain particularly promising projects and enterprises, or those which have critical importance for the Brussels-Capital Region, especially in fields such as health, medical technology, ITC, environmental technology or eco-construction. The BEA thus focuses a share of its activities on sectors (or enterprises) with the potential for growth, be they defined by the government, or representing particular socio-economic opportunities for the Region. To this end the BEA has at its disposal a team of advisors and experts who analyse the project in detail and provide enterprises with coaching, in particular in:
■ Planning and environmental permits (regulations, installation plans, procedures, advice on drawing up dossiers);
■ Analysing technological positioning and the competitiveness of the project;
■ Finalising the business plan, questions on social, fiscal and commercial law in the broadest sense, and estimating funding needs (project analysis, recommendations, choice of funding sources, checking the entire plan, final reread);
■ Optimising development strategies for projects with high potential for growth and job creation (positioning, possible economic models, funding needs, growth paths, most realistic choice and optimisation, search for partners);
■ Obtaining regional or European aid for RD&I projects (analysis of the suitability of the project relative to the envisaged aid, search for partners, compilation of the demand dossier, drawing up of a consortium agreement);
■ International partnerships in the fields of innovation and business (analysis and publication of the sought profile, matching with potential partners, putting parties in touch, aid with negotiation, concluding partnership agreements).

The BEA also develops specific projects, actions and events in these sectors, and facilitates several enterprise clusters (Software in Brussels, BrusselsLifeTech, Ecobuild, etc.). The Clusters of the BEA aim at fostering the growth and development of the priority sectors of the Brussels-Capital Region by:
■ Improving the sectoral ecosystem and creating synergies between the actors (enterprises, academic institutions, support organisations, investors, experts ...)
■ Increasing the international visibility of Brussels and its know-how
■ Organizing collective events based on clearly identified set of themes which answer concrete challenges of the cluster members

The BEA is financed by the Government of the Brussels-Capital Region and is also known as the "Brussels Agentschap voor de Onderneming" (BAO) or "Agence Bruxelloise pour l'Entreprise" (ABE).

To find out more BEA's sites or practical tools:
www.abe.irisnet.be: the BEA's website
www.monstarterkit.be: the site that lets you create your business plan online
www.ecosubsibru.be: the search engine for public aid
www.brucodex.be: the site that keeps you informed from day to day on new developments in urban planning and environmental legislation in Brussels
www.brusselsnetwork.be: the site on European regulation and funding in R&D, as well as for technological and business partnerships
www.brusselsgreentech.be: the site for enterprises active in the environmental sector and those wishing to develop in this sector
www.boostyourtalent.be: the site that lists all the initiatives for stimulating entrepreneurial spirit (ZIP zones)
Sectoral clusters: www.softwareinbrussels.be, www.brusselslifetech.be, www.clusterecobuild.be
For more information
Brussels Enterprise Agency
Tour & Taxis Avenue du Port 86 c box 211
1000 Brussels
T +32 2 422 00 20
F +32 2 422 00 43