At the same time, the still available space in the three northern provinces presents NOM with an issue. Because there are still plots of land available here for industrial companies, they are also available here. “So we have to become stricter,” says Lucas.
Data centers, for example, are now on the NOM’s ‘doubt list’ due to their energy-guzzling nature. Lucas: “I would indeed prefer to spend the rare space we still have on other companies.”
It even leads to NOM showing companies the door, Lucas reveals. It recently happened to a Chinese solar panel manufacturer.
This changed attitude is a major cultural change. Because until recently, NOM was mainly judged on the number of new jobs it managed to create each year.
Municipal and provincial administrators often have difficulty with this, says Lucas: “They especially enjoy being able to say in the newspaper that another hundred jobs have been created.”
Not too bad, says Avoine Fokkens, mayor of Heerenveen, the number one industrial municipality in Friesland, since the beginning of October. “We don’t want to have just any company. A new company must contribute to the prosperity of Heerenveen.”
Professor of Economics at the RUG, Steven Brakman, believes that the time and energy that NOM invests in recruiting companies is largely wasted. “The danger is that you choose companies that you think have a future, but as a government you don’t know that at all.”
We often have no idea about top companies or top sectors of the future. Brakman: “There is now someone in a garage doing very smart things, but we don’t even know that person exists. Think of the artificial intelligence of ChatGPT. Two years ago no one knew it was coming. As a government you have to stay away of such choices, because you choose through the fog.”