BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES FOR SMALL AND MEDIUM-SIZED ENTERPRISES IN BIOREFINERY NETWORKS

Biorefineries offer new possibilities for the forest industry to develop its business operations. However, collecting enough resources to develop and implement a biorefinery in the present industry is a challenge. Hence, economic and technological collaboration is needed. Implementation of new business models will require extension of existing networks, which will offer new business opportunities for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) as well. The goal of this study is to evaluate the business opportunities for SMEs and their role in forest biorefinery networks from the focal actors' point of view. The results, based on interviews with Finnish forest cluster specialists, indicate that SMEs will encounter a number of business opportunities in future biorefinery networks and that their role seems to be significant, especially in the procurement of forest feedstock.