A little bit of fortune is also part of it.
On the one hand, this applies to the researchers at the Mainz-based company Biontech, who have succeeded in developing an effective corona vaccine at breakneck speed.
But it also applies to the city, which can look forward to a windfall of probably a good 1.5 billion euros in trade tax this year and next.
Now it is a question of not throwing the money out the window with full hands, for example to provide the many undisputed ailing streets with new asphalt pavements or to fulfill other citizens' wishes that have apparently been received in the town hall for a few weeks.
The strategy so far issued by the city's elite, first of all to pay off the old cash advances in the amount of 634 million euros, is exactly right and testifies to a wise budget policy.
With luck and skill
The fact that you don't want to rely on just one horse in the medium term, even if it is currently by far the best in the stable, also makes sense. Experts seem to have great confidence in the listed company, which actually works on active ingredients for individualized immunotherapies for cancer patients, for example. However, it remains to be seen whether Mainz’s hopes of establishing itself as a nationally, if not internationally important, biotechnology location will come true.
With luck and skill, however, additional investments in this field could pay off.
However, if you want to create up to 5,000 jobs within ten years and transform the arable land at the Europakreisel into blooming landscapes, you have to ensure that the coveted, highly qualified new residents find enough apartments.
In addition, an attractive science campus close to the university shouldn't look like any commercial area on the outskirts.
So there is still a lot to do in Mainz in order to realize the future project “BioTechHub”.
On the other hand: There are definitely worse tasks.