The number of impact business establishments is increasing in Loire-Atlantique – Le Journal des Entreprises – Loire-Atlantique

The Nantes Saint-Nazaire Développement economic development agency supported the arrival of 47 new impact companies (which stand out for their social and environmental commitment) in the area in 2022, compared to 32 in 2021 (+47%). These represent two-thirds of the 72 companies that arrived in the territory. Impact companies mainly concern the new energy sectors, including marine renewable energies (12), health and marine bioresources (5), cultural and creative industries (9), food (5), and sailing transport (2). We can thus cite, in the new energies sector, the arrival of Nouvergies companies, Aventa, Q EnergyGlobal Wind Service, etc.

These arrivals correspond to the new orientation of the Nantes Saint-Nazaire Développement agency which, for several years, has favored projects not only linked to priority economic sectors but capable of transforming them in the long term.

Decline of digital companies

On the other hand, the establishment of companies in the digital sector (22% of projects compared to 50% in 2019) is declining. The projects supported in digital in 2022 are mainly related to “tech for good” (responsible digital) and training in digital professions. “This digital trend is explained by a more targeted prospecting strategy around the needs of the territory and the desire not to put local companies under pressure on the recruitment of new skills”, underlines Nicolas Debon, director of Nantes Saint-Nazaire Development.

A dozen projects for Saint-Nazaire

In total, 11 companies have chosen to settle in Saint-Nazaire in 2022, for a total of 346 new jobs created over the next three years. “For two years, the agency has engaged in an offensive prospecting strategy for the territory of La Carene (agglomeration community of the Nazairian and Estuary Region, editor’s note), in accordance with the desire to strengthen and diversify the local economy, more specifically focused on the digital sector,” says Nicolas Debon.

On the international side, despite an uncertain geopolitical context and a decline in international investment, 15 projects with foreign capital were received, the majority of them from Germany, as well as projects of Scandinavian origin in the new energy sector.