10 October 2016

The City of Sherbrooke is launching a major project to develop entrepreneurship and to make it easier to do business within its borders, through the creation of an entrepreneurship-based district downtown, in the heart of a revitalized Wellington Street South.

A preliminary sketch of this initiative, known as Well Inc., was presented by the Mayor of Sherbrooke, Bernard Sévigny, on the occasion of his annual address to the Chambre de commerce de Sherbrooke (Sherbrooke’s chamber of commerce).

Plans are for the district to be a venture centred on economic development, urban revitalization, and community development, and which will promote interaction among entrepreneurs, residents, and visitors.

In particular, the project plans to bring together a number of resources to accelerate the start-up and growth of innovative and sustainable businesses in Sherbrooke:

• Support organizations
• Educational institutions
• Financial partners
• Research bodies

Some 15 partners, including the Université de Sherbrooke, Bishop’s University, the CIUSSS de l’Estrie—CHUS, and Sporobole, have confirmed their involvement in Well Inc.

City Council ratified the first phase of the project, i.e. the acquisition of specific buildings and the construction of two others in which economic development organizations will be grouped together.

In parallel with this single point of access for services, it is hoped that the entrepreneurship district will provide formal and informal discussion venues for meeting others, collaborating, networking, and creating:

• Creative spaces with adapted rooms
• Training spaces in which educational institutions will meet with entrepreneurs
• Incubation spaces of all kinds: artistic, technological, social, and reuse
• Co-working spaces
• Green spaces and living spaces

Source: City of Sherbrooke and Sherbrooke Innopole