Wirtschaftsförderung Region Stuttgart GmbH (WRS)
The Wirtschaftsförderung Region Stuttgart (Stuttgart Region Economic Development Corporation) (WRS) was founded in 1995 by the Greater Stuttgart Association (Verband Region Stuttgart) to strengthen the position of the Stuttgart Region as an economically attractive location in national and international competition. According to the statutes of the Verband Region Stuttgart, the WRS has a mandate to attract interested companies to settle in the Stuttgart Region and to support them during all phases of investment, also to support companies already present in the planning and execution of their market activities and to carry out strategic projects to foster the regional economy, with the main focus on SMEs. The WRS is a lean organisation with a total of 40 employees. The operating structure of the organisation is defined in accordance with the needs of the Stuttgart Region and therefore has three operational departments: Location marketing, regional development and promotion of innovation and procurement of location. WRS is a member of the network EURADA (European Association of Development Agencies) and IRE – Innovating Regions Europe. Furthermore, WRS has been registered as member of "kompetenznetze.de", the cluster initiative of the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research.