Press release

14 January, 2008, Velenje – Together with the FM Virtual, ERA Group has joined some other Slovenian companies to cooperate with in the virtual 3-D world of Second Life. The virtual office is located in business building which was set up by the company FM Virtual, and in this virtual office ERA Group presents some of our ongoing projects from the real life. Among them the Business Centre MBC where top services from the area of up-to-date technologies and other business areas are being developed and provided; TOP SERVICES which provide different and integral solutions in one place; project START:UP SLOVENIJA, where Era Group is one of the major sponsors; and project START:UP MAKEDONIJA, where Era Group cooperates in organisation of the project.

In the imaginary world of the Second Life, Era Group is copying its business activities from real life: developing the Business Centre MBC, which functions within Era Group, strengthening current relationships with business partners and extra virtual support to the project START:UP, for the territory of Slovenia, Macedonia and wider SE region. All candidates interested in the project START:UP will be able to file their application also in the Second Life.

Start:up Slovenia and Start:up Macedonia

Start:up Slovenija is all Slovenian competition of the start-up companies, with the purpose of identifying and rewarding the best newly founded Slovenian companies (start-up companies) and their founders. The competition Start:up is being organised for the first time in 2008 and is coordinated by the Tovarna podjemov entrepreneurial incubator and the Public Agency for Entrepreneurship and Foreign Investments (JAPTI), under the general sponsorship of Poteza Brokerage House and Investment Banking and partners. The goal of the competition is to identify, together with the local partners in the innovative environment, the best newly founded Slovenian companies with innovative ideas and global marketing potential.
On March 27, 2008 the winner of the competition will be selected, based on the best business plan and personal presentation to the expert committee. The winner will be awarded the flattering title »Start-up of the year 2008« and a prize.
For 2008 Era is together with the Tovarna podjemov entrepreneurial incubator planning to expand the competition to the territories of the South East Europe, Macedonia at first.
The aim of the Start:up project is to make for improvement of the entrepreneurial activities and promotion of the principles of innovative entrepreneurship in general.
The ceremonial announcement of the winners of the Start:up Slovenija will be held on 27 March at the PODIM conference in Maribor, Slovenija. The deadline for submitting the business plans for the Start:up Slovenija competition is 22 February 2008.
For more information please contact: Second Life or Mr.Urban Lapajne, Project Manager, Tovarna podjemov, E-mail: urban.lapajne@tovarnapodjemov.org ).

Business Centre MBC

Top Services

Top Services provide different and integral solutions in one place. Top services provide up-to-date methodologies to perform analysis of technology or other business area and propose set of services that will enable higher added value, lower operating costs, increased income, optimised time and increased efficiency. The advantage of Era Group is, that it joins national and international experts with many experiences.
List of Top services: internationalization of business operations; company takeover and management of companies; marketing; HR services; re-engineering of business processes, financing of projects and raising additional capital in companies; development-technical engineering; communication services; education services; CT services; legal services, Insurance service, financial-accountancy services and auditing services.

January 7, 2008 – During the last days of December 2007, Era Group has organised charity event called Erik’s Fruit Tales. With our mascot Erik the Hamster and lots of funny animation we have visited children who had to spend their holidays in hospitals all over Slovenia: Slovenj Gradec, Celje, Novo mesto, Izola, Murska Sobota, Maribor and the University Children’s Hospital in Ljubljana. We visited more than 300 children and donated educational Erik's Fruit Tales booklets including the thematic music CDs for the playrooms in the hospital’s pediatric wards.

Era Group has organised the charity event during the New Year's holidays for all those children who had to spend their holidays in the hospital and were therefore deprived of their families and friends. We wanted to bring little light and fun into their dull hospital days.

Erik the hamster and his Fruit Tales, lots of funny animation and funny stories for sure brought smile on the faces of little patients. Funny stories of vitamins and fruits and the influence they have on health were both educational as well as humorous. Erik sang with the kids, danced, did all the funny stuff and made them laugh. He brought a fruit basket to them and when he left, he gave the kids a special present, a basket full of booklets with Erik's Fruit Tales (with illustrated presentation of various fruits, their use, etc…) and a music CD with Erik's songs.

In the time during 17 until 28 of December, 2007 the Era Group charity events were organised in seven health institutes all over Slovenia and Erik the hamster brought smile on the faces of more than three hundred children.

Ljubljana, 20th of November 2007 – On a press conference in Mons Hotel in Ljubljana, the President of the Era Group Management Board, Mr Gvido Omladič and his colleagues presented their new project - the construction of the Multilogistic Business Centre of Slovenia. The centre will be located on an attractive location in Arnovski gozd and will comply with the latest state of art and according to the principles of modern distribution centres worldwide. One of the advantages of the new centre will by all means be the location, where some 100.000 m2 of building land will provide excellent access, occupation of land for distribution of goods in Slovenia and its excellent position at along the fifth corridor route. The size of the land as well the position of the infrastructure will enable the construction of the logistic centre according to all professional principles and rules.

The President of the Era group Management Board, Mr Gvido Omladič pointed out, that the project will be carried out in cooperation with partners included in the project development team for logistics. The construction of the Multilogistic Business Centre of Slovenia will be carried out in more stages, and the final setting up and arrangement will comply with the requirements of the project partners. According to Mr. Gvido Omladič, the total value of the investment will amount to some 60 million EUR.

The logistic centre Arnovski gozd will be constructed directly along the highway exit Žalec – Maribor, which is part of the fifth, the so called Pan-European transport corridor Barcelona – Kiev. The location is situated in the centre of the traffic network between Austria, Italy and Hungary, providing excellent access. The territory of Arnovski gozd is located along the Žalec highway access road and is connected with the railway junction and the railway route Celje – Žalec –Velenje via regional roads.

The location of the Multilogistic Business Centre of Slovenia will be a collecting point for the goods coming from Italy, Swiss, and France and on the other hand for the goods coming from Hungary, Czech Republic and Slovakia. It will enable logistic operations for the area of Southeast Europe. It will be possible to collect the entire assortment of articles produced for the European market and, furthermore, these products will be delivered to any destination point in due time and according to controlled logistic principles.

One of the important factors of the location is the vicinity of the Faculty for Logistics in Celje as well as the industrial environment, which will provide highly qualified personnel needed for management and control of the logistic-distribution centre.

The aim of this project, which is pursued by the Era Group, is to support and further develop the inter-modular function of the logistic-distribution operations and include also other business operations and functions. This will allow the logistics area to extend to other spheres and include also other transport services.