18 April 2012

Press Release – Sherbrooke closes the year 2011 with very positive economic results in terms of employment in its five key sectors, the cornerstone of Sherbrooke Innopole’s economic development strategy and action plan. The key sectors have recorded a net increase of 19 companies and 518 jobs for 2011.

For Manon Laporte, President of Sherbrooke Innopole, these results demonstrate the accuracy of the strategy adopted by Sherbrooke Innopole and the quality of the interventions and action plan of Pierre Bélanger’s team. For Manon Laporte, it testifies that: “Sherbrooke is more than ever moving forward and we are now harvesting the fruits of our labor through the development of concrete projects that result in net job increase.”

The General Director of Sherbrooke Innopole, Mr. Pierre Bélanger, is more than satisfied with the results of his team’s work in 2011. For him, all major economic indicators are green: significant increase in investments to over $ 543 million, net gain of jobs in Sherbrooke, increased property values reaching $ 13 billion, unemployment rate still lower than the provincial average with a score of 6.9% in Sherbrooke compared to 7.8% for all Quebec, and a marked increase of 282% in industrial real estate investments. “This is good news for the citizens of Sherbrooke  says Pierre Bélanger, because economic data from 2011 clearly positions Sherbrooke among the leaders in Quebec and highlights the bright idea that leaders have had to reposition Sherbrooke’s economy around our strengths in research and innovation.”

Sherbrooke Innopole’s General Director nonetheless stated that this is just a starting point and not an end point: “I am proud of the work accomplished, I can only rejoice over the quality of our professional team and members of our Board, but we should also realize that we can pursue our development only if we break our geographic isolation and establish airport and railway links worthy of the 21st century for a city like Sherbrooke. We must also continue to work at developing entrepreneurship and making of Sherbrooke a “Work, Live and Play” city if we want to be in the same class as the North American cities that have made the technological shift. “The mayor of Sherbrooke, Bernard Sévigny, is particularly happy about one of the facts in the annual report. “You know, since my election as mayor, I have made of economic development and reducing expenses my main concerns. During the past year, we have implemented several projects to maximize the tax dollar entrusted to us by the Sherbrooke taxpayer. In this context, you understand that I am delighted that every dollar invested by Sherbrooke Innopole through one of the funds managed on behalf of our fellow citizens has generated an average of $25.7 in investments. “

Mr. Bernard Sévigny, Mayor of Sherbrooke, applauds the City’s economic results released by Sherbrooke Innopole.  ”In the field, we see that investors and entrepreneurs are regaining confidence in the economic situation. The good results announced today also show that Sherbrooke has a competing edge in economic matters. Even without a crystal ball, we can see that the year 2012 looks promising for Sherbrooke. A recent study by the Conference Board of Canada forecasts a 1.8% growth rate of the GDP for Sherbrooke in 2012, compared to an average of 1.4% for major cities in Quebec, and the same organization states that Sherbrooke, along with Montreal, has the best job perspectives in Quebec for 2012″, he says.