New COPA-DATA subsidiaries in Iberia, Scandinavia and the U.S. founded

With the establishment of a total of four new offices during the period from June 2009 to September 2009, we continue our strategic course of further internationalization and continuous growth. The subsidiary for Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) opened its doors on June 1st. Additional subsidiaries were founded in Lisbon, Portugal on August 1st and in Stockholm, Sweden on September 1st. The US subsidiary, which has existed since 2006, was repositioned in the market and relocated to Princeton, New Jersey on August 1st.

This year’s course of expansion is part of a newly defined corporate strategy. The focus is placed on the energy, food & beverage, automotive and pharmacy sectors, with us concentrating primarily on Europe and North America. We are also working closely with other specialized partners. Mirjam Riesemann, Business Development Manager at the COPA-DATA headquarters in Salzburg, explains: “Now in particular, in times where the market is uncertain and also changing, it is important to put sound strategic measures in place for the future. The establishment of our new subsidiaries is a major and very important step for us in order to be both a competitive and a dynamic company in the international automation market.”

The managing directors of the new offices – Alexander Punzenberger (COPA-DATA Central Eastern Europe), Ulf Bexell (COPA-DATA Iberia), Rainer Michelis (COPA-DATA Corp.) and Olov Emas (COPA-DATA Scandinavia) – bring expertise acquired from many years in industrial automation and they are already very familiar with our zenon HMI/SCADA automation system. Thomas Punzenberger, COPA-DATA CEO, clarifies, “We will aim for long-term and sustainable growth, because this is the basis for positive business development. The decision to establish the four new offices within such a short period of time had been planned for a long time. Now is the ideal time to forge new sales channels. This is our proactive action plan - to be equipped and ready for the upturn.”

All managing directors will each be supported by an on-site team covering the most important functions such as support, sales, administration, distribution, consulting and marketing. The subsidiaries are already fully operating.