3 May 2013

PRESS RELEASE – Sherbrooke is listed in the top ten Small American Cities of the Future in the 2013–2014 ranking of fDi Magazine’s American Cities of the Future. Sherbrooke comes in tenth among the 196 cities with a population of 100,000 to 300,000 in North and South America that were considered in the study and stands outs as the only city in Quebec in the top ten.

In addition to this enviable overall position, Sherbrooke ranks fourth in Foreign Direct Investment Strategy and ninth in Business Friendliness among the Small American Cities of the Future. Here, too, Sherbrooke is the province’s only city in Quebec to break into these subcategories.

Sherbrooke earned particular accolades for Sherbrooke Innopole’s foreign direct investment strategy, which is based on an innovative structure set up in 2010:

• Creating a business-friendly environment that promotes business start-ups and growth
• Developing five key sectors on the basis of critical mass in research, number of businesses, and potential for growth, each overseen by a director with expertise in the sector
• Setting up financial incentives for businesses and researchers
• Introducing strong local and international branding highlighting Sherbrooke’s business advantages and quality of life
• Developing a Web 2.0 marketing and communication strategy.

“The City of Sherbrooke’s remarkable ranking across the Americas reflects our community’s shift toward a knowledge economy a few years ago,” pointed out Pierre Bélanger, Director General of Sherbrooke Innopole. “Together, we have created a business incubator that welcomes collaboration and innovation and that benefits from our high-quality human capital, our internationally renowned academic hub, and our operating costs, which are lower than those in most other cities in the developed world.”

“Sherbrooke’s outstanding ranking not only attests to the success of this strategy but showcases the entire Sherbrooke region, whose appeal will only continue to grow,” Bélanger added.

In its ranking of the American Cities of the Future, the fDi research team gathered data on 422 cities based on five indicators: economic potential, human resources, cost effectiveness, infrastructure, and business friendliness. A sixth indicator, FDI (foreign direct investment) strategy, was assessed on the basis of data provided by the economic-development agencies of 127 participating cities. Each criterion was categorized by city size (overall, major, large, mid-sized, small, and micro).

This is the second time Sherbrooke has been ranked in fDi American Cities of the Future. In the 2011–2012 ranking, Sherbrooke placed ninth among the Small American Cities of the Future for its economic potential.

The fDi American Cities of the Future study appears in fDi Magazine, published by the Financial Group. To view the 2013–2014 rankings, click here.