The place called La Manufacture, orchestrated by the Corporation for Economic Development (Corporation de développement économique – CDE)of the Laurentians, is aimed at any company involved in the transformation of products. Inauguration of the premises of this incubator for small-to-medium-sized companies, which will serve the MRC des Pays-d’en-Haut and the Laurentians, will be on October 18 in Sainte-Agathe-des-Monts.

Start-up companies, growing companies or those exploring markets can benefit from rental spaces at competitive prices, which come with technical support, training, mentoring and consultant services from local partners. Three- and five-year leases, renewable in some cases, will be offered to some businesses. It’s an unusual opportunity to surround oneself with a network of experts and benefit from the resources needed to grow a commercial project.

“It’s a golden opportunity,” says Paul Calce, managing director of the CDE, “We’re adding consultant services to completely finished premises. It’s the first time that an entrepreneur can have access, on-site, to all these services.”

“Turnkey” – Paul Calce

The price will depend on the square footage. In addition to Wi-Fi, phone lines, fully set up offices and completely equipped conference rooms, La Manufacture will have a loading dock.

“These are costs, when you work in the industrial sector, which you won’t have to pay for the coming years. It’s a turnkey opportunity,” Mr. Calce adds. “All you have to do is install your own equipment. The only things we ask the companies to do is to concentrate on their project. We take care of all the other irritants.”

A multidisciplinary team of consultants

The following are among the partner companies that will be providing services: Amyot Gélinas, B-Vizion, Laurentides International, the Commission scolaire des Laurentides (Services aux entreprises), Rouge Marketing, SADC des Laurentides, Bertrand Morissette et Associés and LPCP Notaires.

Whether a company needs help with legal contracts, financial statements, sales, marketing or Web presence, there are specialists who can provide services on a piece-by-piece basis,” Mr. Calce makes clear.

Diversifying the employment offering

It’s no surprise that the goal of this initiative is to diversify our regional economy and our employment offering because, as Mr. Calce reminds us, the local economy is focused mainly on the tourist industry and retail sales.

“Our local weakness is not due simply to recruitment, but also to the lack of diversification of the offering,” notes Paul Calce. “Now we’re talking about developing industrial parks. This incubator is needed to feed that development.”

In terms of industrial parks, Mr. Calce talks about wanting to distribute them in three or four towns so that each one can be assigned a specific role. “The future is promising in our region,” he concludes.