Darekon relocates facility and recruits

Savonranta, with just over 1'000 inhabitants, was merged with the town of Savonlinna ten years ago. An aging population and migration loss has made it more and more difficult for Darekon’s manufacturing facility to find employees – and logistic services to the area has also decreased. “We wanted to continue the operation of our well-running and established unit, even if the prerequisites for operation were getting too difficult,” says Kai Orpo, CEO at Darekon Oy, in a company newsletter. “By relocating to Savonlinna city it was possible for us to guarantee jobs for our staff.” Mr. Orpo continues to explain that by moving the operations to Savonlinna the operations will be easier to manage as logistic connections are functional and there are better prerequisites for recruiting new personnel. The new premises will also allow for more flexibility and for expansion. The manufacturer has now found a building which offers more than 2’000 square metres of available space, entirely suited as a manufacturing centre for Darekon. Both the old building in Savonranta and the new facility are owned by Savonlinnan Yritystilat Oy (a city owned real estate company) so the negotiations for transferring the lease were straightforward and easily managed, the company states. “The focus of our operation will change slightly, as we will now concentrate more on the final assembly of products, managing customers and distributing products to final customers. For a long time we have delivered products directly to our clients’ customers and this is a strong part of our operation. In the new premises it is also possible to flexibly expand into more, warm, warehouse space. We think it will be needed since manufacturing work for large-sized products has been growing,” says Kimmo Turtiainen, Darekon’s Savonlinna plant manager. With the move, Darekon is currently recruiting over 10 people in Savonlinna to increase staff numbers to 50.