The Finnish Mittelstand – Can growth be found from this group of companies?

Finland has a German-like, although clearly thinner, group of Mittelstand companies.It is composed of 51 industrial companies globally employing 250–499 people. Two-thirds of these companies are family-owned, and half of them have been established over fifty years ago. The challenges posed by sales, marketing and distribution are typical barriers to growth particularly for these companies. One reason for this may be that the Mittelstand companies are simultaneously both distinctively Finnish and internationally oriented. Since only an exceptionally small portion of them operate as subcontractors, they must be able to withstand global competition, but with significantly fewer resources than large enterprises. Due to their small numbers, the economic importance of the Mittlestand companies to Finland remains modest, even though these companies have been at the forefront of the manufacturers helping Finland cope with the economic crisis that started in 2008.It does not seem warranted to aim policy measures specifically at the Mittelstand, especially when they appear to face fewer financing constraints than the comparison companies. On the other hand, these companies could use some more encouragement to bolster their innovation activity.