The Midi Libre Gard Rhodanien Eco Club is launched, “to highlight the audacity of entrepreneurs”

Business leaders and stakeholders from the Gard Rhodanien region attended the launch of the Gard Rhodanien Eco Club. Mikaël ANISSET

Midi Libre editorial director Olivier Biscaye, alongside Anthony Roumeas, CEO of the Roumeas group, and Jean-Baptiste Honorin, CEO of Handiwork.. Mikaël ANISSET

Pierre Bories, elected member of the CCI du Gard in the Gard Rhodanien. M.A.

Les chefs d'entreprise et acteurs du Gard rhodanien, réunis pour le lancement du Club éco, à la rédaction de Midi Libre Bagnols. M.A.

The launch of the Midi Libre Gard rhodanien eco club took place on Thursday, September 19, during an evening organized in the offices of the Midi Libre editorial office in Bagnols-sur-Cèze.

The editorial director of Midi Libre, Olivier Biscaye, launched the Midi Libre Gard Rhodanien Eco Club on Thursday evening, September 19, in the premises of the Bagnols-sur-Cèze agency. The editor-in-chief brought together an audience of around fifty economic players, representatives of agriculture, crafts (Capeb), training organizations, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCI), France Travail and also elected officials from the region and local authorities.

“The economy keeps our regions alive, whether it be agriculture and viticulture, entrepreneurship, crafts, the associative world…” stressed the editor-in-chief of Midi Libre. The Bagnols-sur-Cèze editorial team was obviously mobilized. Just like the communication and advertising team of Midi Libre, the evelyne agency. “The Gard Rhodanien Eco Club has a simple function: to highlight the positive, the audacity, to highlight the projects, to valorize the women and men who embody this territory, and there is no shortage of initiatives here“, declared Olivier Biscaye.

Launch of a quarterly

A key local player in the region, Midi Libre has already launched five economic clubs, three in Gard and two in Hérault, to ensure that the network is as efficient as possible. Olivier Biscaye has also announced the launch of a quarterly called Eco 30. A magazine whose first issue will be published on November 12.

It will showcase initiatives and projects from across the region. Another initiative that will see the light of day at the beginning of January 2025, a big evening in Bagnols-sur-Cèze "which we call “The Rhone people who win”, says Olivier Biscaye. That is, the presentation of ten trophies to honor people who are not often seen in the newspaper.”

The Chamber of Commerce and Industry has been associated with the Midi Libre initiative from the beginning. Pierre Bories, representative of the Gard Rhone delegation of the CCI, said: “When we see the dynamism of local businesses, we can say that in the Gard Rhone, there is a breeding ground that is not found elsewhere. Here, there are no companies that move because they are doing well. I think that is the strength of Bagnols-sur-Cèze. At the local level, there is a radiance. It is not just uranium that radiates! I think that the companies here radiate throughout the territory.“ 

Others have highlighted the notion of sharing, of networking, such as Jean-Baptiste Honorin, CEO of Handiwork and local representative of the Leader Occitanie business network. And the Eco Club works in complementarity with these existing economic networks.

To join the club, contact the head of evelyne for Gard rhodanien Julien Sellens: julien.sellens@evelyne.fr

Family stories

“I am the heir to a family story. What drives us, as business leaders, is to develop and always try to take on new challenges. You have to have ideas when you're a business leader! “, testified Antoine Lucca, CEO of the Lucca group (Weldom and Boulanger brands in Bagnols).

“I am here to illustrate the continuity of Gard Rhodanien companies, shared Romain Pailhon, director of Pailhon & Fils. The Peugeot Pailhon company has existed in the region since 1928. It has spanned three generations. It has experienced economic changes to which we have been able to adapt. We feel that this region has an identity. We see it when we go to recruit outside. We see that the region has a certain attractiveness.” 

 

Antoine Lucca; CEO of the Lucca group, and Romain Pailhon, director of Pailhon & son. Mikaël ANISSET

The president of Maison Sinnae, Philippe Pellaton. M.A.

A century for Maison Sinnae!

The president of Maison Sinnae (200 cooperative winegrowers in Laudun, Chusclan, Codolet, Saint-Victor-la-Coste), Philippe Pellaton, spoke about the current harvest, “small quantities but a wonderful vintage in terms of quality& quot;, the economic difficulties of viticulture, the hundred years of the cellar which will be celebrated next year. A convincing example of the adaptability of the men and women of the territory.

Over the decades, "we have merged , integrated, worked in good intelligence with the partners”. And to announce the transition to vintage of the Laudun appellation which joins & “the circle of great French appellations”.