Angers Loire Métropole affirms its economic ambitions

Ten thousands new jobs in five years are still the will of Angers Loire Métropole, the territorial authority gathering nearly thirty cities and villages around Angers. That was what the president of Alm, Jean-Claude Antonini, repeated in front of abo
ut 150 structures involved in the economic development of the area. That goal, expressed in a plan drafted by the mayors of the members of Alm last year, is ambitious and, given the economic and social circumstances in which the Angers region evolved during the last twelve months, must be supported by a lot of public and private actors, what Mr Antonini knows.

So, before the summer break, an appeal to the rallying of energies was not useless. If Mr Antonini had some good news (the hiring of 60 temporary workers by Scania, the arrival of a Danish factory subsidiary of Kolmi, that one already located near Angers, the continuous development of Evolis or the expansion of the Spanish Coexpan), others were probably in the mind of the audience like the disappearance of Angers Technicolor and, during the last twelve months, the increase of unemployment whose rate is now very close to the national level. The arrival of one or two laboratories dedicated to the vegetable products is predicted but the departure of the Institut national des appellations d'origine Angers bureau is still possible...

Of course, the president of an authority in charge of the economic issues does his business when he stimulates ambitions and trust. Some facilities, like the railway line Angers-Paris improvement which may help to give more attrativeness to Alm area, are surely necessaries. But, in the same time, the authority should consider the level of charges already paid directly by the companies and indirectly by employees. The announcement of a second tramway line is probably a good news for thousands of inhabitants. But, in the same time, costs of investments are not decreasing. While the line A cost € 320 million and the B 289 millions, the first included all the maintenance centre, not the second.