Our history

Subcarpathian Aviation Cluster was established on the 7^th of January, 2008 as the initiative of the B-4 Association (Cluster’s Coordinator) and the Rzeszow University of Technology, a science and research unit. Initially, our Cluster had 13 members, however up until now the cluster has attracted new entities interested in mutual cooperation, both from Poland and abroad; from Slovakia and Czech Republic. To date, there are 39 cluster members:

• 26 enterprises

• 6 units of science and research

• 1 business environment institution
• 6 the others (associations and clusters)

Acting together, all the cluster members are able to obtain and multiply the  following benefits:

1. Lowering the costs of running their own business, like for instance the purchase of means of production, raw materials, office supplies, means of transportation.

2. Promotion (joint representations at trade fairs, business trips, trade missions).

3. Identifying and meeting training needs.

4. Taking advantage (in a positive sense) of the strength and trademark of our Cluster.

5. Ability to lobby for favorable conditions for development of micro- and small enterprises operating in the aviation industry and their collaborators

From the very beginning the whole idea of starting up our Cluster has been to put together the companies and enterprises of the same industry that used to operate on their own and separately. It is similar to putting the pieces of the puzzle called Subcarpathian Aviation Cluster together, however with one significant difference; our Cluster continues to grow and the new puzzle pieces need to be constantly added. In the era of globalization, it is very difficult, for both micro – and small enterprises to succeed due to a lack of sufficient funds to purchase modern equipment and invest in a R&D center only for their own needs.

By acting together, the Cluster Coordinator managed to raise funds with the idea of building a modern and energy-efficient research & development center along with the technical equipment that will enable to expand the research & production activities of each Cluster Member. The possibility of operating in one location will with no doubts strengthen the bonds and facilitate the exchange of experience and know-how between the enterprises.

Current and Future Projects

Our project to have a modern R&D center built and equipped in a modern way is in progress. This does not mean that the activities of our Cluster have come to a standstill. On the contrary the success of the first collaborative project has whetted our appetite for new projects.

It has turned out that due to the constantly increasing creativity of the members, the Cluster Coordinator, in addition to the current project tasks, has to verify the new ideas and thus, coordinate and plan for any further investment plans and intensively search for funds for their implementation.

New project have already been prepared or are being currently prepared. All the new projects are closely related to the airline industry and majority of the them are being drafted with the view of dramatically increasing the safety level of light and ultralight aviation. 

If we manage to implement at least some of the projects, Poland may become a global leader in the implementation of such advanced safety technologies, production-, research- and training processes in this sector.

Cluster Coordinator

B-4 Association in Rzeszow (Poland) is an independent NGO cooperating with many institutions, enterprises and organisations in the country and abroad. The Association’s mission is to implement actions for local development, improve the quality of life  and strengthen the human resources potential in the regions.  Through its activities B-4 provides the skills, knowledge and  information – the most significant factors that shape the social activity and support regional and local development. B-4 Association is a team consisting of economists, engineers, lawyers, sociologists, psychologists, vocational counsellors, and specialists in the field of entrepreneurship and human resources management. B-4 Association has a certified Quality Management System ISO 9001:2008 in the following areas: provision of advice, information, training, pro-innovation, management, mediation, marketing, advertising and financial services. B-4 has its headquarters in Rzeszów (the south-eastern part of Poland, around 180 km far from Cracow) and 8 offices in different parts of Poland (in Warszawa, Krakow, Lublin, Lodz, Radom, Torun, Gdansk and Szczecin).

As the Coordinator of Subcarpathian Aviation Cluster, B-4 implements and provides free services for the Cluster Members such as:

• general advice;
• seminars on competitiveness and raising external capital;
• technical and organizational support of innovative projects;
• innovative aviation (support in using the potential of the Rzeszow University of Technology;
• advising the members on the project development with regards to project documentation of innovative, investment & modernization projects;
• assistance in obtaining the opinion about the innovation of technical and technological solutions;
• preparing the entrepreneurs to exploit the potential of Polish universities and R&D units;
• implementation of R&D structures;
• conducting negotiations on behalf of the Cluster in terms of business processes or license fees with the owners of industrial property rights;
• providing assistance on industrial property;
• help in dealing with unfair competition in respect of infringements of intellectual property rights;
• optimizing the cost of patent protection, industrial designs and trademarks and thus, determining the scope and area of the protection as well as selection of a patent office.