REGION–PŘÍBOR

Dear director, please tell us how you

came up with the idea for your business?

Since childhood, I was an active modelist

and in high school I became interested

in electronics. Unfortunately, during my

youth it was a big problem to buy anything

related to this hobby, so I had to build the

receivers and transmitters for the remote

controls of the models myself.

In 1993, I started a business with my former

classmate from university, Ing. Juraj Tinka,

in the field of modelling electronics. At that

point, the now well-known company name

JETI model was created (JElen and TInka,

editorial note).

What activities does your company do?

Many people think that we focus on plane

models, but this is not true. We produce

around 150 products of modelling

electronics, all of them our own realization

from design through to the final product.

Our offers include transmitters, receivers,

telemetry sensors, voltage stabilizers, small

modelling electric motors and additional

modelling goods. We focus on the quality

of materials--our transmitters are made

completely from metal, which makes them

almost indestructible.

How much has the field of electronics

changed since you started your

business?

We started with small regulators for direct

current; the first one was called JES10.

Then we started making regulators for

alternating current. Today, all transmitters

for remote control work in the bandwidth

of 2.4 GHz. We are the only ones in the

world to produce transmitters with two

transmission frequencies--2.4 GHz and

900 MHz. This system contributes to

greater safety in the model control.

Modelists from all over the world long

for your products today.

Yes, our company was very lucky. In the

first years of existence, participation

at model trade fairs in Prague was very

helpful for us. Businessmen from all over

the world came to these events. Thanks

to that, we got our first contacts from

abroad. The second great advantage

was the fact that, in the beginning of

the 90s, there wasn’t the competition of

cheap Chinese products, which is very

strong today. Today, you can find our

products in every modelling airport and

in thousands of modelling households as

well, and all of this thanks to almost thirty

years of dutiful work of our employees.

To which countries do you deliver your

products?

Sixty percent of our production travels to

Germany. It is an important market for us

and our products are considered to be

high-quality and very reliable there. JETI

model s.r.o. products are bought by people

in the USA, Austria, France, Switzerland,

Italy, England, Benelux, Japan, Taiwan,

Greece, Turkey and even in the Republic

of South Africa. We have business partners

in forty countries around the world.

Was your business affected by the

COVID-19 situation?

Yes, very much. It is a paradox that the

coronavirus rather moved us forward;

we expect record sales for this year. It is

because people are spending more time at

home and therefore modelists have more

time for their hobby.

What influence do you have as an

employer in the town of Příbor?

JETI employs mostly only residents of

Příbor; the town is quite small and there

is no industrial area. Also, the company

keeps growing, so we will have our say in

the future, as well.

What does JETI model mean to you

personally?

First of all, it is an important period of my

life and it is very dear to my heart. The huge

demand for our products makes me very

happy. We are among the world’s leaders

in the modelling industry. What more

could I wish for?

What place in the Moravian-Silesian

region do you consider to be the most

interesting?

I personally like the Dlouhé stráně Hydro

Power Plant the most. It is something

fascinating and technically unbelievable.

The Dolní Vítkovice Area and Bolt Tower,

from which you can see the whole of

Ostrava, are also interesting places. Of

course, we have many more beautiful

places here--the closest being Hukvaldy

Castle.

Thank you very much for the interview.

POSITIV 4/2020 ǀ 93