Vero Sallenbach | Schaffhausen - area for makers

Get in touch

+41 52 674 03 03

Economic Promotion Canton of Schaffhausen

Innovation, digitalisation and sustainability – those are the three pillars of Vero Sallenbach’s professional life and shape her vision of the future. She spent a number of years as a consultant with Ernst & Young in Zurich, then she moved to UBS where she was involved in creating the Innovation Lab. That project was to play a key role in her future, as she explains: «It was the inspiration for setting up the StartHub in Schaffhausen a few years ago.» and it also brought her to her new home.

She set up the StartHub to fill a gap in the entrepreneurial landscape and provide a space for start-ups to exchange ideas and share inspiration. She had established that Schaffhausen and the surrounding area had a number of start-ups and a good environment for launching new businesses, but identified more could be done to raise awareness and increase the profile of start-up activity. Creating the StartHub has led to the development of a community and to support for innovation. «We help start-ups and SMEs in the area to connect with each other and we provide support for them, running networking events and offering advice to the start-up scene when questions arise.». As a self-starter helping others, she acknowledges the support available: «On the one hand, that support has come via the Regional Development Agency, which approved our application for funding and enabled the StartHub to be launched, and on the other hand, there are a number of other sources of support in the region.».

Vero Sallenbach knows all about juggling the demands of work. In her own business, werdinnovativ.com, she has to manage several projects at once, including sustainability projects for SMEs in the area, a project on inclusion in nearby Winterthur, consultancy on digitalisation and a children’s book about sustainability. Balancing those work commitments and family life is helped by the set-up in her new home in Stein am Rhein where, a few years ago, she and her husband bought a house direct on the banks of the River Rhine. «My husband had the opportunity to join a local business as a partner and can walk to work in three minutes. As a self-employed consultant, I can work when and where I like.» In the summer months, that means you’ll occasionally find her in the Restaurant Uferlos, in the local open-air pool «Espi Badi» in Stein am Rhein, but most of the time, in her office at home.

For Vero and her family, Stein am Rhein means decompressing, slowing things down, enjoying the tranquillity and safe environment, in which her children can grow up in a beautiful setting. «When I look out of the window in a morning and see the River Rhine, I feel good.», Vero Sallenbach explains. And the River Rhine is something she and her family will never give up: «You could say we live on it, in it and by it. In the summer, we go swimming in its clear waters, or get out our boat, and in the autumn, we have a bbq on the banks of the river.» Stein am Rhein has given her lots of reasons to be happy: «I can live here, I can work here and we love the whole area which offers a great deal for families. Think about the river promenade in Schaffhausen, the annual Stars in Town music festival, the streetfood festivals, the spaces for children to play, the famous Liliput model railway in Stein am Rhein and there’s lots more.»

With a house direct on the banks of the River Rhine and a happy family, Vero has turned her visions for her private life into reality. And work-wise? On that front she is still keen to take on more projects linked to sustainability and digitalisation for businesses and start-ups in the area. And what of her visions for Schaffhausen? «For Schaffhausen my vision would be to have a university in the city. That would be cool, because it would bring even more young people to the area, and even more inspiration and positive energy.». So, it’s about thinking big and being brave? That’s always been Vero Sallenbachs recipe for success.

Share by: