The history and development of Võru

Already from historical and definately from strategic point of view, Võru was built at a geographically favourable trading & logistics location - on the route from St. Petersburg to Latvia and the German Empire - in the middle of a forest region. Võru was founded in 1784 on the initiative of Catherine II (Catherine the Great, Empress of Russia) who recognised the economic importance of agriculture and forestry and intended to ensure sustainable forest management in the region to generate economic benefits for the empire. To achieve this, skilled labour was required and the German schools were set up and succeeded into famous educational hotspots for the following hundred years, as specialized workforce was needed.

Local woodworking industry dates back to the end of the 1890 when first sawmill was established by Samuel Judeikin at Lake Tamula and which grew significantly once Võru was connected by railway with east and west in 1889. That sawmill and other timber manufacturing enterprises required specialized workforce and hence Võru Industrial School was established in 1925. Having changed names and priorities this school is currently called EWERS ( Võrumaa Education and Technology Center) (https://www.ewers.ee/en), and will celebrate the 100th anniversary of Võru vocational education in 2025. Ewers has created a competence center for wood and furniture processing TSENTER (http://tsenter.ee/de/) in 2012, which main goal is to connect companies and institutions in the wood and furniture sector and to transmit the best knowledge and skills within the field of materials, technologies, production management and product development. All this, in return, ensures that future wood and furniture specialists will be able to go to professional jobs after completing their vocational training.

Werroform wants to support such beneficial cycle of favourable location, long heritage, good education, immediate practice and full involvement, and continues the important tradition producing trend-setting SMART-Products, which have been specially developed for sustainable future and better quality of living. So that the people from this specific region can both give and get and value THE way. In order for future woodworkers to be able to continue their professional career in their home city or area after graduating from EWERS or similar schools, Werroform OÜ together with Zero Edition will create nearly 70 new jobs in the future. The company also offers its employees the opportunity to develop on an international level, gaining experience at its partner companies in other parts of Europe. 

Werroform OÜ cooperates with Austrian and Swiss partners: SCT System Components Trading (www.sys-ct.com), who has been operating in the construction industry for 30 years and Building Future Now (www.building-future-now.com). Werroform works hand in hand with Swiss evaluation institute Zero Edition (www.zeroedition.ch), who established its branch office in Võru and is a valuation institute to avoid transition risks in real estate financing. Very important partner is the Swiss architectural firm Ritter&Schumacher (www.ritterschumacher.com), which significantly contributes to the development of SMART technologies and SMART products.