Lublin Development Foundation - Regional Development Agency

The Lublin Development Foundation (LDF), one of the first Regional Development Agencies in Poland, was set up in September 1991. It was established on the initiative of organisations supporting the economic development of the Lubelskie Region.
The original promoters of the LDF included among others the Lublin Voivoder representing the State Treasury (currently the Regional Marshall of the Lubelskie Region), Lublin Municipality, Bank Depozytowo-Kredytowy S.A. (currently Bank Pekao S.A.), Powszechna Kasa Oszczędności Bank Państwowy, Bank Przemysłowo-Handlowy S.A. (currently Bank BPH PBK S.A.), Bank Rozwoju Eksportu S.A., Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Lublin and the Economic Foundation in Gdańsk.
The mission of the Lublin Development Foundation is to support the economic development of the Lublin Region, with special focus on the small and medium-sized enterprise sector (SME).

The Foundation pursues its mission by:

• assistance project management;
  
• offering grants;
  
• financial services: loan guarantees, loans and venture capital;
  
• information services;
  
• advisory services;
  
• training services;
  
• innovation and technology transfer services.

In the period of the thirteen years since its inception, the Foundation has become a leader in the regional business support community, as corroborated by the appointment of the LDF as the Regional Financing Institution for the subsequent runs of the Phare Programme. In its capacity as the Regional Financing Institution, the Foundation is responsible for the management of the EU-funded regional enterprise support programmes as well as the administration of the national SME development and innovation vehicles.
The Lublin Development Foundation is also engaged in implementation of the structural funds all over the Lubelskie Voivodship within the regional programmes (the Integrated Regional Operational Programme - IROP) and within the national programmes (the Sectoral Operational Programme - SOP).

The Marshall's Office of the Lubelskie Voivodship delegated the responsibilities to implement the IROP within the measures connected with:

• fighting unemployment by means of stimulation of establishing of new micro-enterprises (Measure 2.5 " Entrepreneurship promotion"),
  
• facilitating the access to advanced advisory services and enhancing investment capability during the initial phase of functioning of the enterprise (Measure 3.4 "Micro-enterprises).
  The Sectoral Operational Programme offers entrepreneurs the possibility of receiving co-financing for:
  
• advanced advisory services (the Sectoral Operational Programme - Improvement of the Competitiveness of Enterprises, Measure 2.1 "Improvement of competitiveness of SMEs through advice"),
  
• improvement of product and technology offer (the Sectoral Operational Programme - Improvement of Competitiveness of Enterprises, Measure 2.3 "Improvement of competitiveness of SMEs through investments"),
  
• training, improving qualifications and acquiring new skills (Sectoral Operational Programme - Human Resources Development, Measure 2.3 "Development of personnel of modern economy" schedule A).

The Lublin Development Foundation operates a network of local SME support centres located in small towns of the Lubelskie Region:

• Local Development Agencies, operating as branches of the LDF, are based in Biała Podlaska, Chełm, Dęblin, Janów Lubelski, Kraśnik, Krasnystaw, Lubartów, Łęczna, Łuków, Parczew, Poniatowa, Radzyń Podlaski, Tomaszów Lubelski, Włodawa and Zamość;
  
• Business Support Centres / Consulting and Advice Centres are located in Biała Podlaska, Bełżyce, Chełm, Dęblin, Janów Lubelski, Kraśnik, Krasnystaw, Lubartów, Łęczna, Łuków, Opole Lubelskie, Parczew, Poniatowa, Puławy, Radzyń Podlaski, Tomaszów Lubelski, Włodawa and Zamość;
  
• Business Incubator in Puławy;

Membership of the Lublin Development Foundation in associations and information networks:

• founding member of the NARDA National Association of Regional Development Agencies in Warsaw since 1993;
  
• associated member of the EURADA European Association of Regional Development Agencies in Brussels since 1995;
  
• accreditation in the SME National Service System (KSU) in Warsaw since 1996;
  
• registered in the Central Consultancy Register (DG1A1) in Brussels, reg. entry POL - 22421- in 1997;
  
• affiliating organisation for the Euro Info Centre since 1999;
  
• member of the European Association for Technology Transfer, Innovation and Industrial Information (TII) in Luxembourg since 2001.

The top standard of services provided by the Foundation has won it the ISO 9001 : 2000 quality certificate in 2001.