Brändön Lodge harnesses the power of the local community and strengthens the place

Two retired midwives as cleaning ladies? “Of course” thought Göran Widén when he was asked. Brändön Lodge is one of Luleå’s largest and oldest hospitality companies. Recently, they won the award “Årets Guldkorn” at the Luleå Business Awards. The motivation stated, among other things, that Brändön is a pioneer in its industry and an exemplary ambassador for both the region and the city. They have figured out how to use the power of the local community and contribute to social sustainability.

Göran Widén has the archipelago in his blood. With a mother from Brändön and a father from Persön, he has always been close to islets and islands. 25 years ago, he bought the conference facility on Brändön together with two of his cousins.

“It was both quick, foolhardy and really about a nostalgic vision that the place was worthy of a better fate”, says Göran.

Three years in, one of the cousins chose to leave to move to Stockholm and become an opera singer. Göran Widén and Johan Björklund remained and still run the establishment.

“We had a good turnout right from the first winter months and mainly received local companies for conferences. Over the years, we developed the business and received more international corporate guests and then also private guests,” says Göran.

Local workforce – young and old

But how did it happen that two retired sisters joined the workforce?

“We have always worked with local labor. Our first kitchen staff were Minett and Greta, who live on Brändön and have been cooking all their lives. Almost every young person in the neighboring villages has started their professional career here, in the kitchen or as a guide. Those who worked here when we started running the business have now grown up to be bankers, accountants and engineers.”

Ten years ago, Göran was approached by two sisters. Marta and Sigrid were both retired midwives and felt they had a lot left to give. They said: “you must have something for us to do, can’t we clean?”.

“That’s how it started, and now it has become a concept where we have several retired ladies on staff and a constant natural recruitment. They laugh and have fun and get a meaningful occupation and a new context. The oldest lady is around 80, so at the company parties we have a huge spread of ages.”

“It’s nice to see the interaction across generations and nice to be able to give back to the older people who still want to work and have more to give. These ladies do their job with love and have a sense of place.”

A souvenir shop without imported plastic

Some ladies from the cleaning team do more than just clean. They contribute products to the souvenir shop. Here you will never find imported plastic from abroad. Göran and his team want to give visitors the opportunity to buy local products made on site. Aina, for example, is a keen knitter and knits mittens that tourists can buy – something that has proved to be a successful concept.

“Our visitors are more than willing to pay a little extra for products that are locally produced. We are currently working on developing this even further so that we can showcase the people behind the crafts. Just today I had a meeting with a group of artists from the village who were excited about the possibility of collaboration.”

Soon you’ll be able to buy pottery and paintings in the Brändön souvenir shop, as well as mittens. And if you’re lucky, you’ll bump into the person behind the crafts at the resort. Maybe she was the one who set up your room before you arrived?

Jobs have brought five new residents to Luleå and Brändön

Many hospitality businesses employ seasonal workers. This is a prerequisite when the number of guests varies greatly between seasons. For Göran Widén, pre-boarding is a matter of course. This means that anyone coming to work here in winter receives an introduction as early as August/September to be prepared for what life as a seasonal worker on Brändön will be like. To give employees the best possible introduction, he has now handed over responsibility to Jolien from Belgium. Jolien did her first season on Brändön last winter and chose to stay on.

“Having recently gone through the induction, Jolien has fresh memories of what was good and what can be done better. So now she will help me develop the pre-boarding concept. It’s great that we get people who are committed and who choose to stay. So far, we have contributed five new residents, three from Belgium and two from southern Sweden. Even among those who do not choose to stay, there are many who come back season after season.”

For a man like Göran Widén, things rarely stand still. He has more ideas on how to develop his business and engage the local community.

“We have perhaps the most active village development association in the area, where the chairman engages young people to be involved in everything from restoring bakeries to maintaining nature trails. I will try to awaken their entrepreneurial spirit so that they can earn money from their drive. For example, they can come and sell grilled sausages on our Northern Lights tours or come up with other creative products for tourists or businesses.”

“I think it could lead to more people choosing to stay on after graduation, when they look at their place in a new way and understand that people from all over the world want to come here.”

A generous guidebook to the Norrbotten archipelago

Earlier this year, Göran Widén published the book Guide Handbook to the Bothnian Bay Archipelago together with Göran Wallin. In the book, they generously share inspiration and facts for those who want to develop activities and experiences in the Norrbotten archipelago.

“The world is big enough for many people to work out here and our archipelago deserves more attention”, says Göran and continues:

“The next step will be a second book, moving from facts and history to people. We want to collect stories from local people.”

Earlier this year, Brändön Lodge won this year’s Guldkorn at the Luleå Business Awards with the motivation: “By being a great pioneer in their industry for a long time and an exemplary ambassador for the region in general and Luleå in particular. Through their work with human encounters, they have helped to bring the world to Luleå, and Luleå to the world – exactly what we think fulfills all expectations of what this year’s Guldkorn should be.”