Economic Assessment : Executive Summary Vichy Val D'allier – 2013/2014

Economic assessment : executive summary Vichy Val d'Allier – 2013/2014 Vichy Val d’Allier Despite the difficult economic environment, the VVA Community of Local Communes (CLC) continues the pursuit of its development programme. A number of major projects have already been started. People and institutions are rallying together to improve the territory's performance and competitiveness. A broad range of cultural events regularly take place to satisfy as large a percentage of the population as possible. The quality of the sports equipment and infrastructure is such that major national and international events are regularly being organised. A COMMUNITY TERRITORY 23 communes joined together in 2001 to create the VVA Community of Local Communes (CLC). The group's cohesiveness is based on a shared geographic location, economy, culture and social structure and an enhanced communitarianism with common interests and projects. 1 President, 16 Vice-Presidents elected from 72 Community Councillors, and 250 Community Employees work together for the success of the CLC's projects. A privileged living environment of 320km² with nearly 80,000 inhabitants. The latest projections from INSEE Auvergne, the National Institute for Statistics and Economic Studies, predict an 8% growth in the population www.agglo-vichyvaldallier.fr by 2040. « All roads lead to … » Vichy Val d’Allier. A near perfect geographic position in the centre of France provides undeniable advantages in terms of road transport, with motorway connections to Paris, Montpellier, Bordeaux and Lyon, and rail transport. Access is further enhanced with Clermont-Ferrand's International Airport only 45 minutes away. « More than ever, the activities of the VVA CLC, through its Economic Development Agency and Development Service, are extremely important, not only for our economic and corporate fabric, but also for the people who work here. Even though regular, daily support is crucial, the emphasis must be on the future to prepare the attractiveness and development of our territory, particularly in the CLC's business and enterprise parks, such as the Atrium. For many months now, VVA has been working on the reconversion project for the old Manurhin site at Monpertuis, and have given carte blanche to the Europan architecture competition for an urban project, with 49 teams of young architects in the running. By the end of 2013 a winner will be chosen, who will see their project take shape in a place where over many decades hundreds of people worked in heavy industry. Even though it is still too early to know what sort of activities might be created on this disused but strategically situated site, near the new motorway link, it must be a major project, reinforcing the economic development of the CLC. It is always with this strategic perspective in mind that Vichy Val d’Allier participates in the Metropolis project with its neighbouring Communities of Riom and Clermont, and the ClCs of Issoire and Thiers. By joining our forces, energies, skills and know-how, together we can build a territory even stronger and more attractive, providing more services to our inhabitants, companies and the people who work for them. » Jean-Michel Guerre President of Vichy Val d'Allier Community of Local Communes Major road projects Vichy Val d'Allier has made expanding and opening-up the community's road network an absolute priority. The policy is based on finalising the connections to the motorway network, the A72-A89 to Lyon and the A71 and RN7 to Paris, and finishing the ring road around the VVA district. This will not only create the necessary conditions for a more balanced development throughout the community, but also ensure economic competitiveness by serving the different business parks. © Vichy Val d’Allier Développement – June 2013 Page 1 www.vichy-economie.com Economic assessment : executive summary Vichy Val d'Allier – 2013/2014 Completing these projects will also largely reduce the traffic in a number of areas, particularly by reducing heavy goods vehicles in transit. After many months of preparation, work began last March on the construction of the 14km motorway feeder link from Gannat to Vichy. The APRR (Autoroutes Paris-Rhin-Rhône), the 4th largest motorway group in Europe, estimate that the project will require a further two years work. The North-East section of the ringroad is part of a real strategy for economic development. It will provide vehicles with access to the North of the CLC and the community business parks of Ancises at Creuzier-le-Neuf, and Coquet at Seuillet, as well as Davayat at Saint-Remy-en-Rollat. The future single lane South-West section will channel traffic coming from Thiers directly towards the RN209, and the entrance to the A71 at Gannat. It will also provide access to the Bioparc business park at Hauterive. The Urban Boulevard The object of the Urban Boulevard is to: better manage the flow of traffic between the towns of Cusset and Vichy, some 12,000 vehicles per day between the Boulevard des Graves and the Boulevard Denière; ensure the economic development of the community; and facilitate access to major sites such as the Jacques Lacarin Hospital, the Albert-Londres academic campus, and later on the Graves commercial and industrial zones. The first phase should be completed by the end of 2013. The Urban Boulevard will be a normal road, six metres wide with two-way cycle paths, parking areas, wide footpaths and green areas. The Clermont/Riom/Vichy Metropololis In order to compete with Europe's largest towns, the CLCs of Clermont-Ferrand, Riom and Vichy, have associated with the Regional Chamber of Commerce and seven other CLCs to reinforce cooperation: they are the CLCs of Issoire, Limagne Bords d’Allier, Limagne d’Ennezat, Murs ès Allier, Nord Limagne, Thiers, Volvic Sources et Volcan. This grouping has a global population of more than 470,000 inhabitants, 20,000 companies, 200,000 jobs, 39,000 students, 2,200 researchers and 18,000 management. The Metropolis will be a union of different bodies, bringing together those partners wishing to create and develop communal projects in terms of planning and development in areas such as the economy, ecology, education, culture. The intention is to improve the attractiveness, competitiveness and cohesion of each territory. It should help the Metropolis position itself in terms of both national and international projects and facilitate joint territorial lobbying. There can be various themes for joint activities: mobility, economic developments, higher education and research, sport and culture… The idea is to improve the present situation across the whole of the territory, optimise resources and speak with one voice. 2ND ECONOMIC BASIN IN THE AUVERGNE One of the particularities and advantages of the Vichy economic basin is its real diversity in terms of economic activity: plastics processing, packaging, electronics, electrical, metallurgy, automobiles, mechanical, agro-foodstuffs, as well as globally known luxury leather goods and cosmetics. The retail sector and business and personal advisory services complete the economic landscape. The industrial sector is the second largest in the Auvergne Region and comprises not only a large number of SMEs, but also large companies such as: - Cosmétique Active Production (The L’Oréal Group): cosmetics - CTL Packaging: packaging for cosmetics and plastics - Wavin France: PVC tubes and connectors - Ligier: vehicle manufacturers, petrol and electric engines, with or without a Driving Licence - Valmont France: road lighting and signage materials - Arrivée Auvergne: organic poultry production - Labinal: electric cables for the aeronautics industry - Sofama: leather goods - Satel: call centres Flash this qr code - NSE: cabling and integration of electronic systems to get their annual reports online. … Vichy's employment zone covers 120 communes, over 2,076 km2 with 131,481 inhabitants. © Vichy Val d’Allier Développement – June 2013 Page 2 www.vichy-economie.com Economic assessment : executive summary Vichy Val d'Allier – 2013/2014 The territory has 12 business parks to welcome companies, some of which have particular themes. The Bioparc specialises in welcoming companies from the health, fitness, beauty and bio-medical sectors. The Atrium René-Bardet business centre, opened in 2008, now houses more than twenty companies primarily from the service sector. The interesting thing about this building is that, originally, it was a Vichy water bottling plant, and the architects have kept the original structure. It now has more than 6,000m² of office space and meeting rooms available, with a reception area and nursery. Being near to Vichy railway station's intermodal transport hub makes the centre a strategic location. Since 1937 the Montpertuis-Palazol site had been home to the company Manurhin Défense, a subsidiary of GIAT Industries, specialising in the production of munitions. The company closed down in 2006, since when the site has undergone substantial de-contamination work which should end in 2015. The conversion of the site will provide a major benefit to the economic development of the CLC: it is part of the 2013 Europan programme, being the 12th edition of this European architecture competition. A CAMPUS IN THE HEART OF THE COMMUNITY Developing higher education for a medium sized town provides considerable advantages: being part of the knowledge economy, opening new perspectives for economic development, reinforcing the attractiveness of the territory. With nearly 2,300 students, 10 higher

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