Launch of the Cleantech Innovation Park

The Cleantech Innovation Park in Hallstadt is taking shape. Michelin, the city of Hallstadt and the district of Bamberg have now formally sealed their cooperation in the revitalisation of the tyre manufacturer's former production site with the signing of a partnership agreement. Peter Keller was appointed managing director of the newly founded Cleantech Innovation Park GmbH. Keller has held various positions at Michelin for 30 years and has been accompanying the transformation and revitalisation process for Michelin since the announcement of the plant closure in 2019. The shareholders of Cleantech Innovation Park GmbH in Hallstadt are Michelin, the city of Hallstadt, represented by Mayor Thomas Söder, and the district, represented by District Administrator Johann Kalb. Christian Metzger, current director of the plant, and Christoph Nossol, authorised signatory of Michelin Tyre Plants, signed on behalf of Michelin.

Hubs for green technologies of the future

"The signing of the partnership agreement comes exactly one year to the day after the last Michelin tyre rolled off the production line in Hallstadt," says Christian Metzger. "That is a very short period of time when you consider what such a transformation process entails and how much convincing is necessary. After 50 years of Michelin, we are now opening a new chapter for the region and the city. A chapter in which innovative strength, sustainability and the creative power of the people here play the main role. In this way, we are strengthening the economic performance of the entire region in the long term."

The Cleantech Innovation Park in Hallstadt is to be an efficient innovation centre for large and small companies, universities, research institutes and start-ups to work together on mobility concepts, drive systems and cutting-edge green technologies of the future. The aim is to create a hub for green technologies of the future that will promote the transformation process of the northern Bavarian automotive industry and further development in the direction of sustainable mobility. "These are precisely the fields that we have identified together with the city, the district and other dialogue partners. We want to network science and business even more closely," says Peter Keller.

A project with charisma for the entire region

"The Cleantech Innovation Park is a great opportunity for our region. Here we bring business and science together, actively shape the ongoing transformation process in the automotive industry and create jobs. We are placing sustainable ecology clearly in the focus of this pioneering project for the future. Together with our partners, we will succeed in making this project of the century a success for our city," says Hallstadt's mayor Thomas Söder.

"This is a great step for the entire region. I am very pleased that the district council has said 'yes' with a large majority to this tripartite alliance, with which the district of Bamberg, Michelin and the city of Hallstadt will create an innovation ecosystem." This is how District Administrator Johann Kalb classified "one of the most important decisions of the district council on Bamberg in this election period". "The new Cleantech Innovation Park GmbH will become the engine of the transformation of the automotive supply industry in the Bamberg region through the cooperation of business and science. Our goal is to secure jobs of the future here with us: an important, right, a courageous step!"

State Minister Melanie Huml described the founding of the company as a "decisive contribution to the sustainable further development of the Bamberg region". "I would like to thank the three contract partners for their commitment and wish us all that the Cleantech Innovation Park will be a resounding success. The foundation stone has been laid for a lighthouse project with enormous charisma. The final realisation will still be a joint effort, but I am confident that we will succeed. In close cooperation with the operating company, I will continue to work hard for the Cleantech Innovation Park," emphasises Huml.

What happens next

The next steps on the Cleantech Innovation Park GmbH site are the demolition of existing buildings in the first half of 2022 and the simultaneous planning and start of construction of an innovation centre. The first companies and research projects are expected to settle on the site in the first half of 2023 and begin their work in joint projects.