It is expected to provide regional companies with the components needed for furniture production. The financial partner of the project is Swedbank. The first stage of the park’s development process was completed earlier this April – a logistics centre with integrated green technology was built and has already started operating.
“Despite the complicated situation worldwide, we are not suspending our planned investments in the SBA Technology and Innovation Park cluster. The works proceed in full force. We are planning to launch the furniture components factory at the end of this year. The plant will play a significant role for our furniture manufacturing companies and will boost greater efficiency,” says Egidijus Valentinavičius, Vice President of SBA.
According to Vice President, the new plant will start a centralised production of components and blanks for the SBA Group furniture companies. The factory will cover 4 thousand square meters and will be equipped with 4 efficient fully automated production lines and 5 robots. The plant will operate in 24/7 mode. It is estimated that about 40 trucks will deliver goods from the factory to furniture manufacturing companies located in Lithuania every day, which means they will transport more than 90 million pieces of furniture components and blanks to companies all over the country each year.
The construction of the plant will be financed by Swedbank – the companies of the SBA Group have granted more than 10 million euros project financing contracts to Swedbank.
“The Lithuanian wood sector represents a real business success story. For many years, we have been watching the successful growth of companies operating in this field, their significant contribution to the country’s exports and established positions in the global furniture market. The new investments of the SBA Group will contribute to the further expansion of the sector and will help to create even greater added value in it through innovation. Despite the current challenges to the national and global economy, we believe in the long-term sustainable development of partners and the whole sector. We are happy to contribute to the extension of Lithuanian business and projects such as this one,” says Antanas Sagatauskas, Head of Corporate Banking Division at Swedbank.
Swedbank also funded the construction of a sustainable logistics centre covering over 30,000 square meters, which has already been operating in the SBA Technology and Innovation Park.
The SBA Group’s total investment amount in the first two stages of the Technology and Innovation Park will exceed 30 million euros. The newly established company Laminn in the SBA furniture sector will take up production at the factory under construction. The SBA company Innovo Logistika will play the role of an operator of the logistics centre. The SBA real estate company Urban Inventors will act as the developer of both the centre and the plant.
Following the completion of the two stages, the SBA Technology and Innovation Park will have a total of nearly one hundred newly created jobs, but further development of this cluster is also planned.