Trade in Amberg: With courage and digitalization into a sustainable future!

Trade in Amberg: With courage and digitalization into a sustainable future!

In the Upper Palatinate, trade is faced with exciting challenges and opportunities, as the recent autumn meeting of the Regensburg Chamber of Industry and Commerce Trade Committee for Upper Palatinate/Kelheim in the Energy Competence Center of Stadtwerke Amberg impressively showed. The focus of the discussion was on central topics such as a shortage of skilled workers, digitalization and the requirements for sustainability. During the meeting, Mayor Michael Cerny reported on the “Inner City Million” program, which was awarded the IHK Municipal Development Award and was launched in 2025 and is already having a positive impact on the city of Amberg. “The program has beautified our downtown and strengthened the community,” Cerny said.

Committee chairman Maximilian Mehler also left no doubt that retailers have a good knack for innovation despite rising costs and growing bureaucracy. He clearly called for less regulation and more trust in local businesses. The members of the committee agreed that there is an urgent need for long-term financial and economic policy in order to guarantee stable framework conditions.

Shortage of skilled workers and international talent

Another important point was the shortage of skilled workers. Siegfried Bäumler from the Schwandorf Employment Agency presented the “Incoming Project Kyrgyzstan”, which aims to integrate international trainees into the labor market. Helmut Hagner from the FREY group of companies reported challenges in integrating workers, but emphasized the motivation and reliability of the new trainees. This shows that retailers in the Upper Palatinate not only rely on self-confidence, but also on international talent.

Practical approaches to recruiting skilled workers were discussed at the meeting. This includes flexible working time models as well as the use of social media and artificial intelligence in recruiting. “We have to emphasize the strengths of retail as an approachable employer,” emphasized Maximilian Mehler, and this is also urgently necessary in order to survive in the competition for the best minds.

Digital challenges and solutions

Apart from the discussed topics of recruiting skilled workers, there are also technical issues that concern many companies. An example of this is a user who was provided a STEP file format model for a vehicle chassis. The challenge of the model in Fusion 360 not being the expected length of 3.577mm, but only showing 1.460mm, illustrated the difficulties that can arise in the digital realm. He attempted to scale the model by a factor of 2.45, but this did not produce the exact dimensions desired. Such technical problems show that companies must continue to look for solutions to implement their projects efficiently and precisely.

The meeting confirmed that, despite all the challenges, retail in the Upper Palatinate is showing a lot of courage to transform. With initiative, international talent and digital tools, you can set the course for a successful future. It remains to be seen how developments will develop in the coming months, but one thing is certain: a good hand and responsiveness to the needs of the industry are essential to actually achieving the goals we have set.