An Academic and Business Nexus

Home to large universities in Tours and Orleans as well as a multitude of language institutes and smaller universities, learning has long been synonymous with the Loire Valley. Indeed, education and learning are centerpieces of the cultural and business climate of the entire Loire Valley area. With more than 70,000 students enrolled in university programs in the greater Eur-Am neighborhood, the Loire Valley is bustling today with an extraordinarily high level of university-led research and development. Fourteen public research centers, in addition to the Loire Valley’s celebrated universities and their students, help to ensure the area’s long-standing reputation for dynamic advancement.

Similarly, the ongoing decentralization of French industry and business away from the Ile-de-France has spearheaded a dramatic rise in the number of French corporations to be found in the Loire area. Ranked third in France for the percentage of employees working in high-tech companies, the Loire has seen Ile-de-France enterprises create more than 3,500 new companies in its territory over the last 25 years. Most noted for pharmaceutics, electronics, plastics, and automotive sector businesses, the area’s business climate and highly trained workforce have hardly gone unnoticed internationally.

The number of British and American companies now based in Blois is around 10, joining existing enterprises from 9 European Union countries, Canada, Japan, and Taiwan. Just three of the American companies based in Blois–Delphi, Proctor and Gamble, and Panodia–employ and conduct regular retraining on more than 2500 staff who live in the larger neighborhood of Pontlevoy.

The 60 international firms in this area–whose corporate managers hail from 16 different countries–combine with an enormous population of university faculty and students to assure an international vibrancy to the area’s business community and cultural life.