Entrepreneurship with tradition

Haninge's proximity to Stockholm has created opportunities for expansion and development for many years. However, the municipality is also characterised by large rural areas, particularly among the islands in the archipelago. A partially isolated existence demands personal ingenuity and innovation. That's why you can meet Jacks-of-all-trades here in Haninge, who vary their work with the seasons – entrepreneurs who run waterside filling stations for boats and taxi boats in the summer and switch to making delicatessen food or importing goods from far and wide during the winter.

People talk about the Haninge spirit. It is characterised by the art of survival – to be able to see opportunities and broaden your range of products or services. But it is also imbued with an attitude of sticking together, building up something as part of a group.

Cooperation since time immemorial

As early as in the 19th century many Haninge residents joined forces to supplement their income from farming. A service business consisting of laundries was established and this included clear incentives for cooperation: one person had watercourses on their land, another had suitable drying barns, and so on. Haninge's fresh country air and the clean water in the streams created a new demand among city residents. In the 1920s there were about 140 laundries in Haninge, and a significant proportion of the municipality's working population were involved in the business.

We can't see many vestiges of these laundries today, but the service industry has remained. The archipelago's destinations that are so popular with visitors have long provided an income for restaurants, hotels and transport companies. Many new operations have expanded on the mainland as well, ever since the construction boom got under way in the 1950s and 1960s, when Haninge joined the construction industry to build housing for a growing metropolitan region