CUPIDO supports local businesses in Nome, Norway
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KRAFT is the name of the pilot in Nome municipality in Norway. KRAFT stands for culture and culturalheritage as resource for workplaces and belonging. And even though the drive-in concert is just one example on how KRAFT is supporting local businesses, it is a good one, because it gave way for more networking and activities than ‘just’ one concert.
- The drive-in concert became more important to us than we thought beforehand, since it led to a number of concerts during the summer, it made eleven businesses work together with the result of other business cooperation’s afterwards. It also gave a lot of publicity since it was the second drive-in concert in whole of Norway, says Marit Svalastog Sperre, Project Manager for CUPIDO KRAFT in Nome.
KRAFT is about supporting local businesses and organizations to use culture and cultural heritage as a resource for creating jobs, profits and belonging. And there are more examples on how this have been carried out within the project.
A local iron factory in Nome is famous for producing manhole covers which gave another local organization the idea for developing a clothing collection with manhole-printing.
- CUPIDO KRAFT inspired us to get going and helped us with a test collection including a sweater, a cap and a shopping bag, it sold very good and now we have developed the collection with several items. All products are sold at our store at Øvre Verket, which is located in former workers housing, close to Ulefoss Iron Works who are producing the manhole covers, says Mette Sanden from Øvre Verket.
Supporting local businesses
In Nome, the Centre of Excellence - KRAFT-hub - is placed in a building called the Competence House, where organizations and businesses can share workspace and meet in the shared meeting spaces. Now creative work is thriving with 10 out of 12 of the tenants working in the creative sector. And during times of restrictions with many businesses struggling, this Centre has been important for several of its occupants according to Marit.
- Having a place that gives support has been very helpful for many smaller businesses during these past months, there are several who have expressed that it gives hope and a welcomed support for the future, she says.
Café and clothing shop Victoria & Henrik in Lunde have expanded their business, by taking over a neighboring shop that was closed, and widening their operations, adding art to the café and clothing store. By cooperating with Villa Lunde, an important actor within local art and culture, they have been displaying and selling art in their shop.
- This is a way of lowering thresh holds to experience art and culture while also providing a new market for both artists and venue, says Marit and continues. - For many people it is a big step to go into an art gallery if you’re not interested in art in the first place. Displaying art in a local café and store which is a natural gathering point for many locals, makes it more accessible, while also giving business opportunities since the art displayed can also be bought.
Villa Lunde, a home for art and music, is an important actor on the local cultural scene. They have been involved in CUPIDO KRAFT-project on several of the pilots and are now working with new technology in search of finding new market opportunities by combining classical art with a multimedia platform.
- It is important to acknowledge that CUPIDO KRAFT not only supports to start a cultural happening but also supports development and growth. For us, this has meant that we have been able to professionalize our digital platform, says Jakob Zethner from Villa Lunde. They are presently working with a film project within CUPIDO KRAFT as a part of digitalizing their business. You can watch the film on YouTube here
As the CUPIDO KRAFT-project moves forward, project manager Marit can see many more opportunities working with visualizing and testing to keep developing local businesses, providing more workshops and networking for businesses and organizations.