The Regional Agency for the Development of Small and Medium Enterprises “Šumadija” (SMERA) represented the first institution in the territory of the Šumadija and Pomoravlje region whose mission was the development of SME sector as one of the preconditions for economic development of the entire area. It was created by the initiative of local stakeholders, the City Assembly of the city of Kragujevac, NGOs and the private sector, and within the project of “ the Non-financial support to the SME sector in Serbia”, funded by the EU and the European Agency for Reconstruction.

The agency registration itself was carried out in December 2001, while it officially started work on 5th May 2002, which is regarded as the foundation date of the current institution.

The vision of the institution at that time was to become a key factor in the development of SME sector in the territory of the region Sumadija and Pomoravlje, contributing to long-term and sustainable development of the SME sector through entrepreneurship development and SME support, and all of this should have been done through building of a stable network of all relevant factors.

In the first two years the Agency was focused on providing its services to two major target groups: small and potential entrepreneurs.

After the second year, the three-year development strategy was created by the objectives of which the Regional Agency for Small and Medium Enterprises “Šumadija” evolved into the Regional Agency for Economic Development of Šumadija and Pomoravlje. The Re-registration process was implemented in 2005 within the framework of the regional socio-economic development, financed by the European Union, and implemented through the European Agency for Reconstruction.

In the process of transformation a list of founders and the target group of the institution was extended, all of which required an introduction of new departments and the recruitment of new staff. The transformation itself aimed at achieving competitive market position which will enable the achievement of profit, a satisfactory level of sustainability and the reduction of the dependence on the financial support from donors.

Parallel with the development of the institution, different areas developed, where the daily activities of its departments were directed. Thus, at the very beginning of the institution the target group were small and medium enterprises and active and potential entrepreneurs, which was later followed by beginning with the activities in the field of human resources.

The Regional Agency today represents one of the leading carriers of the planning process of the regional development in the territory of Central Serbia, which focuses its activities on the five priority areas of development: the development of small and medium-sized enterprises and entrepreneurship, the human resource development, the infrastructure development, the development of tourism and the rural development.