Adam Pustelnik’s full scope of duties has been taken over by Michał Śmiechowicz, whose professional past is linked with the world of banking. Śmiechowicz has been involved in banking since 2007 and has been developing his managerial skills for over a decade. He started at BRE Bank before moving to Bank Pocztowy and then Alior. Finally, he worked at Eurobank where, in addition to team management, Śmiechowicz was mainly responsible for building relations on the local market of partners i.e. intermediaries, developers and real estate agencies.

As he recalls his career in banking: I stood out with my results and achievements — as evidenced by the constantly expanding territory of activity — until one day I decided to take a direction observed extremely rarely on the market. I decided to move from a corporation to local government administration.

As of January 2019, initially as Deputy and from April 1st as Director of the Economic Development and International Cooperation Office, he was appointed to work in the structures of the City of Lodz Office. His previous experience turned out to be extremely useful as, in fact, he still "operates in business". He builds a brand and manages the sales team, only this time the ‘product’ is broadly understood as a city.

Michał Śmiechowicz has set himself the goal of taking care of the perception and image of Lodz on the national and international arena, establishing new and maintaining existing relations with investors and shaping the best possible atmosphere for living in the city. These are not quantified values although the new director emphasises that he wants to bring as many new jobs as possible to Lodz, help Lodz-based entrepreneurs to develop and make as many good ideas as possible – preferably from academic circles – come true. Śmiechowicz also puts an emphasis on the people of Lodz and wants Lodz to be perceived as the perfect place to study, work and live — not only in the eyes of Poles, but also foreigners.

This is not the only personnel change that took place in the team responsible for servicing investors in the City of Lodz Office. Mateusz Sipa became Deputy Director of the office dedicated to new economic initiatives and which is responsible for determining new paths of development for the city in terms of attracting investors. This former colleague of Adam Pustelnik has been present in the structures of the City of Lodz Office since 2015. Sipa is a graduate of the Faculty of Law and Administration at the University of Lodz and of the Warsaw School of Economics. As a legal adviser, he gained experience in several law firms based in Lodz.

For the new director, his deputy director and the rest of the team at the Economic Development and International Cooperation Office of the City of Lodz Office, the past few months have been full of work but have also witnessed the finalisation of some interesting investment projects. In April, Orange opened a new branch in Ogrodowa Office. The company will create 500 new jobs in its new headquarters. The second major investment was the official opening of the office of Digital Workforce, which is growing more and more dynamically in the field of RPA (Robotics Process Automation). Digital Workforce already uses its experience to support Nordea Bank (amongst others) but through the development of the new operating centre, it is planning a significant increase in its activity in Lodz, which is connected with the creation of new and attractive jobs.

This is not the end of the information regarding new investments in the capital of the Lodz Voivodeship. Another entity that appreciated the attractiveness, but also the geolocation of Lodz, is Pieter Smit Theater Rock Polska. It is the largest European company in the concert and entertainment industry, providing transportation services related to cultural events where the majority of customers are European theatres, operas and orchestras. Its services are already used by the Krakow Opera, Alan Walker, Deep Purple, the National Philharmonic, Live Nation and Zurcher Theater Spektakel.

The Lodz real estate market is constantly developing. For several years now, the city has been a construction site for many large companies operating mainly in IT and BSS sectors. The company interested in the new ‘Imagine’ office project is Asseco – the European leader in the IT industry that have decided to move to this modern office building developed by Avestus Real Estate.

New office projects are part of a broader initiative referred to as Duopolis, i.e. the joint presentation of Warsaw and Lodz as one large and complex business centre in Poland and Europe. Both cities are one of the largest metropolitan areas not only in Eastern Europe, but throughout the European continent. All of the above-mentioned projects prove that Lodz is a good direction for business development. Another piece of information from recent weeks deserves attention is that Fujitsu Technology Solutions, an IT company that has been associated with Lodz for many years, has been recognised as one of the most desirable employers in Poland (third place in the ‘Randstad Employer Brand Research’ ranking).

The first four months in the world of business in Lodz have been a time of very active operations, by both the companies themselves and the Economic Development and International Cooperation Office of the City of Lodz Office. It seems that the new ‘steersman’, Michał Śmiechowicz, will have many opportunities to continue the mission started by Adam Pustelnik.

Source: UM Lodz