7 April 2021

PRESS RELEASE – Sherbrooke Innopole’s Board Director, Alexandre Nault, announces the appointment of Mr. Sylvain Durocher as executive director of the economic development organisation.

Before he takes office on April 19, Mr. Durocher met with Sherbrooke Innopole’s employees during a virtual meeting. “I am very happy to join the Sherbrooke Innopole team to carry on the excellent proximity, vision and mobilisation work done over the last few years to better equip growing businesses, increase the attractivity of Sherbrooke’s business environment, and stimulate fruitful collaborations. I am a cyclist and I like to say that we progress more efficiently and rapidly as a peloton. In that sense, I am ready to meet challenges with a dedicated board and experienced professionals who are as passionate as I am, and who innovate in their practices and initiatives to better server local entrepreneurs. Together, with all the community stakeholders, we will seize the economic development and growth opportunities that will arise for Sherbrooke, its area, and its businesses when we emerge from the pandemic.”

Mr. Durocher holds an MBA and a Master of Chemistry from Université de Sherbrooke. He worked for top-ranking innovation and economic development organisations for 15 years, at Investissement Québec, the Société générale de financement (SGF), the National Research Council Canada (NRCC) and Ressources Québec. As the director of strategic initiatives at Investissement Québec, he recently launched the Manufacturiers innovants initiative which has offered assistance and financial support to over 1,000 business projects. He has also organised three Québec economic missions at Hannover Messe in Germany, the world’s largest industrial trade fair. Mr. Durocher has a vast experience in financing industrial as well as natural resources processing projects, and in business intelligence for innovative SMBs. He has also been a member of various boards, among which Écotech Québec, Mouvement québécois de la qualité and Quebec Mineral Exploration Association.

According to Alexandre Nault, from a field, strategic and governing point of view, the solid and diversified experience of the future executive director is key to further Sherbrooke’s economic development. “The pandemic added to the challenges our businesses are facing, in the same way the digital transformation and the labour shortage did. On top of understanding these stakes and having a fine knowledge of the manufacturing ecosystem, Mr. Durocher shows, through his achievements and his large contact network, a strong mobilization capacity that will allow Sherbrooke to strive towards innovation. He is a team player and a creative leader who brings team members together, in continuity with the work of his predecessor”, said Mr. Nault.

Sylvain Durocher succeeds Josée Fortin who resigned in November 2020, after more than seven years as the executive director of Sherbrooke Innopole. She will ensure the smooth transition to her successor until April 30, 2021.

About Sherbrooke Innopole
Sherbrooke Innopole is the Ville de Sherbrooke’s economic development organization for the industrial and high-value-added services sector. Its mission is to accelerate the development of companies from the five key sectors – Advanced Manufacturing, Cleantech, Information Technologies, Life Sciences and Micro-nanotechnologies – and ensure that Sherbrooke has an attractive and innovative business environment.

Source: Sherbrooke Innopole