21 June 2013

PRESS RELEASE – In the presence of Sherbrooke’s mayor, Sherbrooke Innopole’s team and several partners, Marc Cantin, the chair of the Board of Directors of Sherbrooke Innopole, today announced the appointment of Josée Fortin to the position of Director General of the organization.

Ms. Fortin, who was officially introduced to Sherbrooke Innopole’s entire team in the early afternoon, was nevertheless in familiar territory, given the many projects she has led in cooperation with Sherbrooke Innopole as President and CEO of SOCPRA. “I am very happy to join the Sherbrooke Innopole team, which has succeeded in positioning the organization as an innovation hub and a driver of Sherbrooke’s economic development in the last few years,” explained Ms. Fortin. “I am very enthusiastic about taking on this challenge, which I will meet with the support of a team of extraordinary professionals and a seasoned board of directors. I will do so in keeping with Sherbrooke Innopole’s chosen mandate in an effort to help create wealth in Sherbrooke.”

Josée Fortin has a Master’s of Business Administration (MBA) degree and has spent most of her career working on Québec’s economic development. She worked as an industrial commissioner for the Montmagny regional county municipality (RCM), then as a commercial attaché at the Québec Government Office in Beijing, and later took on management duties in private industry at EXFO, Gealth Prevention and Julien. Since 2008, Ms. Fortin has dedicated herself to managing and marketing inventions from the Université de Sherbrooke as President and Chief Executive Officer of SOCPRA.

Describing her as a team player who gets results, Marc Cantin says he is very proud to have someone of Josée Fortin’s caliber at the organization to help pursue Sherbrooke’s economic development. “Four years ago, Pierre Bélanger met the challenge of developing an innovative strategic approach based on key sectors, a suitable business environment and the economy of knowledge. Due to her experience in economic development and in business both here and abroad, as well as her in-depth knowledge of the academic world, Ms. Fortin will definitely be a major asset to developing Sherbrooke’s economy even more and reaping the fruits of our labour in the last four years,” he adds.

Bernard Sévigny, Sherbrooke’s mayor, is also thrilled about this appointment: “Sherbrooke’s economy is doing better than many similar cities in Québec and Canada. This is largely due to the efforts of Sherbrooke Innopole’s professionals and the incredible drive of our entrepreneurs. Josée Fortin’s arrival as Director General will make it possible to continue the success of this great adventure that is revamping Sherbrooke’s economy.”

Mr. Sévigny also mentioned Pierre Bélanger’s outstanding contribution during his four-year term as General Director of Sherbrooke Innopole and thanked him for the solid legacy that he is leaving behind for the people of Sherbrooke.

The selection process began in March after Pierre Bélanger announced his retirement. The Governance and Human Resource Committee, which is chaired by Joanne Roberts, of the Board of Directors of Sherbrooke Innopole led the project. “We chose to go with the traditional job posting process, both internally and externally, and achieved the outcome with the support of a firm of recruiting specialists that helped us every step of the way,” she explains. We are extremely happy that we found the perfect candidate in a relatively short period of time, given the profile we were looking for.”

Although Mr. Bélanger planned to officially retire from his duties on June 30, he will continue to lead Sherbrooke Innopole until Ms. Fortin begins her duties on August 19 in order to ensure a smooth transition before he takes his well-deserved retirement.