The Minister Delegate to the Minister of the Economy, Finance, and Economic Recovery, in charge of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises, and Joël Giraud, Secretary of State to the Minister of Territorial Cohesion and Relations with Local Authorities, in charge of Rural Affairs, co-chaired today, Wednesday, December 8, the first steering committee meeting for the “Local Manufacturing” program.

The goal of this steering committee was to announce the first 20 winners of the national “Local Manufacturers” program.

“Local manufacturing facilities contribute to the reshoring of our artisanal and entrepreneurial activities, to the expansion of training and the transmission of skills, and thus play a role in revitalizing local communities,” the two ministries emphasize.

This initiative is part of the “New Places, New Connections” program led by the National Agency for Territorial Cohesion, in collaboration with the France Tiers-Lieux association (https://francetiersslieux.fr/), which will coordinate support for the winners.

The UTBM Innovation CRUNCH Lab, the University of Technology of Belfort-Montbéliard’s third place,

is among the top 20 locations in France to have earned the “MANUFACTURE DE PROXIMITE” designation (ultimately, about 100 locations nationwide will receive this designation). This facility will be named CRUNCH Factory.