What is a sector of excellence?
According to the Québec ministry of “Économie, Innovation et Exportation Québec”, a sector of excellence is defined as a group of organizations:
- With related and interdependent activities – who collaborate and compete with each other
- Located within a specific area
- That constitute a sector for which the region has a competitive advantage, due to specific skills and products
- Employing a qualified and specialized labor force
Sectors of Excellence – Lac-Mégantic
Master Plan – Downtown Reconstruction – City of Lac-Mégantic
The economic development master plan brings forth the notion of “new economy” in Mégantic.
“We believe that the downtown area will play an important role in local and regional development, able to contribute to job creation and diversification of the economy” declared Mrs. Collette Roy Laroche, mayor of Lac-Mégantic.
When we talk about the new economy, we first think about integrating new technologies into existing firms, or pure technological companies that will develop innovative products or services.
“At our level, explains the mayor, we are broadening the concept. We also include activities that will attract to our town organizations and companies from new sectors or not present at the moment.”
We are looking at the possibility of a “knowledge and innovation centre”, which could regroup under one roof expertise and training centers in safety, crisis management or public health. We would also like to attract companies that are looking into decentralizing some of their activities in the different regions of Québec.