To create an international innovation and education center where people from the region will study and work, from which future elites will emerge. This is the vision that entrepreneur RNDr. has been realizing for a quarter of a century. Josef Tesařík in his BEA center Olomouc, which also includes the Moravian University. And the next part of the League of Success series is mainly about her, in which, in collaboration with the District Chamber of Commerce, we present you remarkable companies from the region. And this project is definitely remarkable.
For students to stay in Olomouc
There used to be a barracks here, later the open space was used by circuses, for almost fifteen years on the banks of the Moravia between Kavaleristů Street and Kosmonautů Street, the BEA Centrum campus has been gradually and patiently growing, where, in addition to Josef Tesařík’s companies from the Tessela holding, the Moravian University has facilities. “The vision I’ve had for twenty-five years is being realized,” says Josef Tesařík, who now works as the statutory director of the school, and explains what the acronym BEA stands for: “B is business, E education, or education, A Acceleration, so business support and expertise.” According to him, the goal is an innovation base for the entire region. “We want people from the region to be educated and work here in order to raise it up. It is a great pity when young people leave to study in Prague or elsewhere and never return to Olomouc. Our goal, which we are gradually fulfilling, is to reverse this trend,” explains Josef Tesařík. It was this idea that made him think about founding an educational institution at the end of the nineties. “I often met people from Olomouc in Prague and asked them why they moved away. And they generally answered that they studied in Prague, found a job and stayed. And sometime then it occurred to me that Olomouc is completely lacking a school focused on economics, management and similar fields. And that the region essentially needs these disciplines. That was the impetus,” he tells how the proverbial long-distance running began. The first visible project was the construction of the Olomouc Regional Center (RCO) in front of the railway station, which was completed in 2003. “For decades, Olomouc was a neglected district town. Something like a large center was missing, where, for example, congresses could be held and experts could meet. That’s why we built RCO as such a gateway to the city,” says Josef Tesařík about the project. It was in this building that the Moravian University, which was established in 2005, had its first headquarters.
The school is based on international relations. In April, for example, an international conference took place here, attended by students and lecturers from all over the world.
Photo: Jan Procházka
Two thousand graduates
Today, the Moravian University is the heart of the BEA center project. It has over two thousand graduates, around five hundred students currently attend it, and seventy employees work there. “Moravian University is today a complex academic institution with defined expertise, which it tries to apply in the field of innovation and entrepreneurship,” introduces Josef Tesařík. The focus is on managerial disciplines, economics, finance, human resources, marketing and multimedia, and of course on entrepreneurship and innovation. Study programs are bachelor’s and subsequent master’s. “Our specificity is that the first year is more general so that new students can look around. They then choose a specialization that suits them. But they certainly don’t have it easy with us, we don’t give anything away for free. On the other hand, students are getting better every year and are very interested in their studies. I think a good indicator is that a lot of students earn their own tuition.” Josef Tesařík is also satisfied with the fact that the vision for the school to serve mainly students from the region is being fulfilled. One hundred and fifty students entered the first year in September, one hundred and twenty of them from Olomouc and the surrounding area. Those who finish school often find employment either in their parents’ companies or in school structures. “We don’t want to invite lecturers here who postpone the lecture and go away again. A school is made up of people. That is why we will train young colleagues who will gradually take over the imaginary baton. If one of our graduates decides to pursue an academic career, our doors are open for them,” Josef Tesařík is happy.
“I love this view,” says Josef Tesařík by the window in his office. The BEA campus on the banks of the Moravia began to be built in 2013, and should be completely finished in a few years.
Photo: Jan Procházka
Students have no problem finding a job
The Moravian University is also the first in the Czech Republic to receive professional accreditation, thus connecting theory and practice. “It is compulsory for students. They thus gain irreplaceable experience directly from companies. We are not a school that only teaches theory and then lets out graduates who can’t do anything,” says RNDr. Ida Wiedermannová, MBA – economic and personnel director and at the same time vice-rector for education and pedagogy. He proves his words by the fact that companies often offer jobs to students who do internships with them. After all, the school boasts that approximately ninety-eight percent of graduates find employment in the field right after school. “They take hold in companies, some go into public administration, some stay at school… And many students, often already during their studies, start their own business. We are happy to support this and provide them with the background for starting up and further service.”
A great attraction for future students and a huge source of experience are the school’s significant contacts abroad. “Foreign lecturers and students come here, and our students also go abroad not only as part of the Erasmus program, but also for various internships or exchanges. And we regularly organize trips to the surrounding countries, because it is necessary for students to get to know our anchorage in the Central European area,” says Josef Tesařík, adding in one breath that the school also tries to emphasize the students’ relationship with home.
On the international level, the school cultivates relationships all over the world, long-term cooperation with schools and companies, for example in the USA, Israel, Germany, Great Britain, India, Slovakia and Hungary.
Josef Tesařík is proud of what he managed to create. “I believe that within two years the school could be self-sufficient,” he says. He invested over one hundred million crowns in the entire project.
Photo: Jan Procházka
“We don’t do science for paper”
The school bets on modern teaching. “The classrooms are fully digitized, we use top technologies. Eight years ago, a television studio was also created at the school, thanks to which students acquire skills, at the same time it serves to promote the results of research, and it also operates on a commercial basis and thus earns money for the school,” explains Wiedermannová.
The Moravian University is a two-time holder of the prestigious HR award title, and would like to defend it for the third time. It has also had the status of a scientific institution for many years and, as already mentioned, is active in the field of research. “We always make sure that the results are applicable in the region. We don’t do science for the sake of paper,” points out Vice-Rector Wiedermann.
Currently, the third project is running, in which the school participates together with partners from Ireland and Croatia. “The goal is to create a center that will enable the transfer of know-how for specific companies, but also for schools,” reveals the vice-rector.
However, the school also focuses on innovations in the teaching itself. “We follow new trends and technologies and always try to be ahead, we teach ourselves and the students, because the world changes very quickly and we have to with it,” notes Tesařík.
Probably the greatest success in the field of science was the article co-authored by the vice-rector for science and research Ing. Tomáš Jelínek Ph.D., published last year in one of the world’s most prestigious interdisciplinary scientific journals, PNAS, which is published by the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. The text dealt with the topic of the Holocaust and examined the effect of social ties on the survival of Auschwitz prisoners.
RNDr. Josef Tesarik
*23. 7. 1949, Olomouc
Entrepreneur, founder of TESCO SW and a number of other companies. He built the Olomouc Regional Center in the forecourt, where the Moravian University later found its first headquarters. In 2013, he began to build a large campus between Kavaleristů Street and Kosmonautů Street, where not only the school but also a number of companies found facilities.
He is a great Olomouc patriot, lives in Neředín. He has three grown children and several grandchildren. His brother is former governor and mayor Martin Tesařík.
source: Olomouc.cz/kdojekdo
Photo: Jan Procházka
No subsidies
Together with the school, the entire campus is gradually growing. “We estimate that it should be completely finished at the turn of 2025 and 2026,” hopes Josef Tesařík. And he believes that within two years or so, the school could be financially self-sufficient. “This means that she would only need to finance approximately ten to fifteen percent. No private school in the world survives only on school fees,” says Tesařík. For the past fifteen years, his company Tesco SW has mainly invested in the school, and the Olomouc Region has also contributed. However, according to Tesařík, the region is strong enough that there will be other philanthropists who will support the project. “It’s everyone’s school. It can be said that this region finances the school from its own resources. And be careful, we don’t have a single crown from any state subsidies.”
In addition to the completion of the campus, according to its founder, the school would now like to focus on professional and excellent support of small and medium-sized enterprises with a focus on innovations in agriculture, food industry, spa industry and health care in general. And in the future, he could imagine greater cooperation with Palacký University. “We’re building something that doesn’t happen overnight. Twenty years is a short time and we can see much further. We build a lot of everything on greenfields and take inspiration from abroad. But I believe that we will succeed in raising the region and that we will raise new elites who will take it over,” concludes Josef Tesařík.
