Alicante: a minefield for Rafa Climent

This includes, above all, the commercial center of the Alicante State Confederation of Business (Coepa), the ambitious project this entity is embarking on, and at the end of the game, caused its dissolution due to enormous indebtedness.. Currently, after many efforts in which the Alicante City Council is actively involved, an exciting future educationally for the building can be seen for a moment, although at the time there was a strong dispute over ownership between IVF, Servef and Coepa itself. account and help.

A similar situation occurred in Fundesem, where the Valencian Business Competitiveness Institute (Ivace) wanted to terminate the lease for the building it occupied due to accumulated debt. There’s a tense calm right now, waiting see what happens with voluntary bankruptcy sent by the organization.

It was also difficult to get the Alicante Trade Fair Authority (IFA) off the ground, a real crossover that eventually resulted in a positive outcome. Assumption of 70 million euro debt by ConsellThis frees the business from the burdens and allows it to undertake a plan for improvement and expansion of both the trade show and other activities. And all this in a way that is not easy with conflicts regarding the management model, including in this case the Ministry of Finance.

A new management model for IFA after debt exemption

Alicante Trade Fair Authority (IFA) has a future full of possibilities, after seeing the wolf’s ears up close. And the 70m-euro debt he had dragged on was holding him back when it came to organizing activities that would help stimulate the province’s different economic sectors. Now the situation has radically changed when ballast has disappeared and is about to become commercial for public-private operation.

To make this possible, Consell, through an initiative led by the Ministry of Economy, assumed the amount of the debt by the following procedure: was not exempt from inconsistencies with the Ministry of Finance. As Rafa Climent explains, “after all, it’s not about saying who got away with it. The positive thing is that a formula has been found to ensure public control of the institution and private administration, because ultimately it is businessmen who know their needs best».

In this process, the company that will shape the fate of IFA is about to be established. It will be after the holidays and everything shows that the current director will be chaired by Beatriz Serrano, because the position will be put to a vote on the proposal of the president, in this case Climent himself.

“Our intention – says the Minister – is for IFA to be profitable. In fact, except for the pandemic period, profitability has been achieved in recent years, and this is the path we should follow from now on.”

This is corroborated by Beatriz Serrano, who did not hesitate to point out that “we’re talking about a completely basic service for the state that needs a place to hold events.”

Investments are planned at the first stage. improving trade fair infrastructuresAlongside the deteriorating in recent years is the urbanization of the adjacent land that IFA has provided for the settlement of debt for the location of the aging center and the establishment of innovative companies, something to be managed by the Company Thematic Projects. As confirmed by Consell last Friday.

And the purpose in terms of content Expanding the activities involved in IFA. According to Serrano, there are now twenty annual fairs and a similar number of other events. “What we want – he emphasizes – is to increase activities at all levels by incorporating new sectoral fairs,” he said. It may be the shoe fair that has made a name for itself in recent years, but this is something entrepreneurs need to elevate,” he explains.

5.5 million investment to revive Coepa’s old commercial center

After years of abandonment and destruction, the former commercial center of the extinct country employer Coepa will find a new life. And the Ministry of Economy is finalizing the project of the rehabilitation works of the property with the aim of undertaking the project next year, and from the next year it can start to provide services in education issues by meeting the business needs. your province. All this after a long and complicated journey reaching an agreement with Alicante City Council to take the initiative.

The idea of ​​building a trade center emerged in 2001 to respond to the lack of specialized labor in the province’s sectors such as construction or hotel management at that time. It was a three-way deal. Alicante City Council transferred the land and Generalitat financed the construction of the building. It cost 6.8 million eurosThrough subsidies from the Valencia Employment Service (Servef) and a mortgage from the Valencian Institute of Finance (IVF), Coepa was responsible for the management and teaching of the courses, also subsidized by Consell.

However, with the coming of the economic crisis, the budgets allocated for the education of the unemployed decreased and Coepa could not participate in the different tenders that emerged. Thus, the property in question has not been used since 2012, when IVF started claiming the loan granted. What happened was the last straw, when Coepa lost its main source of income and was unable to meet these payments and Servef demanded a refund of the aid.

From then on, the building continued to rot and fall into the hands of decay. Earlier this year, an agreement was finally signed between Servef, IVF and Alicante City Council.This will allow the infrastructure to be recovered and turned into a training center.

They can develop their skills and professional abilities so that the rehabilitation project with a budget of 5.5 million euros can provide courses for both the employed and the unemployed by transferring the contractual land and building rights to Labora for 50 years. Entrepreneurship support or any other active employment policy will also be provided. The purpose emphasized by Minister Climent is to meet business needs.

Fundesem has completed a viability plan to attend business school

The latest conflict the Ministry of Economy has plunged into in the province of Alicante is that of the Fundesem business school after the Valencian Business Competitiveness Institute (Ivace) agreed to terminate the lease of its headquarters occupied as a business centre. result of defaults. While the situation is currently on hold, the business is finalizing a viability plan that allows it to continue operating on the property it currently occupies.

The conflict broke out last June. Ivace management has agreed to terminate the contract and claim all the debt Fundesem has accumulated. For rent arrears of EUR 1.65 million since 2012. This decision was made despite the center submitting an offer to repay the sums owed through an agreement with the European University to which it will transfer some of the facilities. But this solution did not bear fruit.

Ivace’s location has drawn criticism from the Alicante City Council and the business community, so Minister Rafa Climent and the city’s mayor, Luis Barcala, agreed to give Fundesem a new opportunity to propose a new proposal, but yes, 600,000 Euros to the Generalitat. immediate payment.

However, taking into account that the foundation had other debts that brought the total figure to 2.5 million euros, the legal entity itself decided to propose voluntary bankruptcy because of the greater risk than the fact that the creditor would file a claim in court. This coincided with reality European University’s decision to withdraw from the agreement given the impossibility of starting the next course, which he signed last year, and Ivace’s position to continue with the termination of the contract.

Again, Fundesem managers don’t throw in the towel. The directive, led by Cayetano Sánchez Butrón, is working on the drafting of an implementation plan, which it plans to submit at the end of this month or the beginning of the next. Sánchez Butrón himself, who assures that they do not give up their activities in the same place, also points to this. “Of course – he states – it would be with a less powerful use and a smaller staff, but our intention is always to continue in the spirit of dialogue”. The minister points out that he is waiting “to see if the problem can be redirected” with the intention that the building can continue to be used as an education center no matter what.