Gwangju City Selects 15 Companies as '2022 Regional Star Enterprises'

Support of over 70 million KRW for 3 years including R&D project planning and corporate growth strategy development

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Yoon Jamin] Gwangju Metropolitan City has selected 15 companies as the ‘2022 Regional Star Companies’ and awarded them ‘Certificates of Designation.’

According to Gwangju City on the 8th, the Gwangju Star Companies selected this year are Neuron Motors Co., Ltd., Dawon DNS Co., Ltd., Daekyung AT Co., Ltd., Daejeong Co., Ltd., Mano Co., Ltd., Sea CNT Co., Ltd., IT Square Co., Ltd., SMG Co., Ltd., MLT Co., Ltd., Wangseong Tech Co., Ltd., Intops Technic Co., Ltd., Jinwoo Altech Co., Ltd., Kubotech Co., Ltd., Pampas Co., Ltd., and Hanyoung Hightech Co., Ltd.

The designated companies will maintain their status for three years, and through the supervising organization, Gwangju Technopark, they will be matched with consulting firms and dedicated project managers.

Additionally, about 70 million KRW per company will be supported for customized programs such as establishing growth plans, planning research and development (R&D) projects, and export activities.

Star companies with excellent performance after designation will be supported with commercialization R&D project funds of around 200 million KRW annually for the following year through a public competition.

Following the award ceremony, Gwangju City held a briefing on the star company development project, a meeting with the companies, and a matching session with consulting firms.

Park Jeonghwan, Director of the City’s Job and Economy Office, said, “We will spare no support so that the regional star companies selected this time can grow innovatively into global small giants and lead the local economy.”

Meanwhile, Gwangju regional star companies are systematically supported to foster excellent small and medium enterprises (SMEs) located in the region by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups and Gwangju City. Eligible companies must have an average sales revenue of 5 billion to 40 billion KRW over the past three years, an average sales growth rate of 5% or more over the past five years, an average R&D investment ratio of 1% or more relative to average sales revenue, and an average employment growth rate of 5% or more over the past three years. Among these, outstanding SMEs with future growth potential and technological capabilities are selected.

Gwangju City plans to complete the designation and intensive fostering of a total of 76 companies, including 61 companies selected from 2018 to 2021 and 15 companies this year. The 61 star companies selected over the past four years have increased their sales by 18% and R&D investment by 14.5% in 2021 compared to 2020, continuing to grow as representative local companies.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.