10 January 2013

PRESS RELEASE– Sherbrooke business leaders from the industrial and high-value-added services sectors, are contemplating the year to come with confidence and optimism, according to an Extract Marketing/Tenor Marketing survey commissioned by Sherbrooke Innopole.

Essentially, the survey conducted with 229 Sherbrooke industrial business owners and leaders reveals that a majority of them (73%) believe that Québec’s economic situation will remain stable or improve in 2013.  This level of confidence rises to 83% when only responses from the key sectors of the knowledge economy (Information and Communication Technologies, Life Sciences, Micro-nanotechnologies and Cleantech) are factored in, while it registers at 67% in the manufacturing industry sector.

“It’s extremely reassuring to confirm by means of this survey what we perceive in the field, mainly that the period of economic uncertainty seems over and that businesses are embarking into 2013 with confidence”, comments Mr. Pierre Bélanger, Sherbrooke Innopole’s Director General.  “Even more uplifting is the fact that when the survey was conducted, the US budget deadlock had not been solved, which could have moderated certain results.”

In parallel, the level of optimism is high for all businesses with more than eight respondents out of ten predicting the same revenue level (35%) or an increase in revenue (50%) compared to 2012.  Here again, it’s in the knowledge economy sector that the rate is highest with 57% of respondents predicting an increase in revenue. Manufacturing industries also have a very positive outlook with 46% expecting an improvement in revenue and 37% expecting that revenue will stay the same.

Moreover, when queried about the vitality of the economy, half of respondents say they perceive a new economic dynamism in Sherbrooke, a rate that reaches 66% in key sectors, which confirms the accuracy of Sherbrooke Innopole’s development strategy, according to Pierre Bélanger. “Knowledge economy and value-added manufacturing businesses are the foundation for a solid and future oriented economy.  It’s at the very heart of our development approach for Sherbrooke and survey results are confirming that it’s bearing fruit”, he concludes.

This survey, conducted between December 7 and 14, 2012, with 229 industrial organizations conducting business on Sherbrooke territory has a 5.4% margin of error, 19 times out of 20.

About Sherbrooke Innopole

Sherbrooke Innopole, as the Centre local de développement (CLD) of the MRC of Sherbrooke, is an economic development corporation whose mission is to ensure innovative, harmonious, and dynamic economic growth and development by promoting the development of companies created from Sherbrooke ingenuity and research, attracting new businesses, and supporting existing manufacturing firms in their expansion, innovation, and internationalization initiatives. www.sherbrooke-innopole.com

Source: Sherbrooke Innopole