Henrik Lundum NOVI Aalborg research park, Digi Mart USA News (Aalborg, Denmark): When Henrik Lundum received the keys to the NOVI research park in Aalborg 10 years ago, the first thing he changed was the coffee. He was not a fan of the large thermos containers of filter coffee in the canteen, which were poured into carafes and carried into the offices.
The change was not only about taste. Lundum wanted people to meet.
He replaced the thermos carafes with new coffee islands that invite spontaneous conversation.
Today he can sit in the canteen or walk the corridors and watch people from different companies gather at the machines, start talking and begin exchanging ideas. “It may be a small thing, but it says something about how we want NOVI to be.
If the companies just share an address, we have not created much,” he said.
Lundum is one of eight business leaders that Nordjyske, together with a jury, has named as this year’s Nordjyske Frontløbere, or frontrunners. Under his leadership, NOVI has grown from about 100 companies to around 330 and has roughly doubled its area to about 100,000 square meters across 19 buildings.
According to the nomination, however, his impact goes beyond “properties and square meters.” He has helped develop NOVI from a traditional research park into an environment where companies share not only an address but also ideas and experience. The 57-year-old director has spent much of his working life finding out how things can be done differently.
With the Nordjyske Frontløbere series, the newspaper highlights people who drive development, challenge habits and show new paths for business in northern Jutland. The eight frontrunners were selected together with an independent jury and are profiled in Nordjyske.
