Backgrounder: Support for Soucy Rivalair Inc., Bébé Urbain Inc. and Les Artisans de l’Aube

October 19, 2018, Drummondville, Quebec – Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions (CED)

The companies Soucy Rivalair Inc., Bébé Urbain Inc. and Les Artisans de l’Aube (website in French) will receive repayable contributions totalling $1,082,000 from Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions.

Through this financial assistance, the woman entrepreneur behind Bébé Urbain will be able to finalize the creation of her company and will have the resources to develop a baby carrier for premature and young children and to market her innovative product. The family business Les Artisans de l'Aube, which is established in the small municipality of Saint-Eugène, will ensure its growth by optimizing production of its local organic products. Soucy Rivalair, one of the twelve subsidiaries of the company Soucy, will be able to address the shortage of specialized labour by having access to leading-edge digital technology for supporting the production and marketing of its innovative products.

The Honourable Marie-Claude Bibeau, Minister of International Development and Member of Parliament for Compton‑Stanstead, on behalf of the Honourable Navdeep Bains, Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development and Minister responsible for CED, announced this funding today .

Soucy Rivalair Inc.

Repayable contribution of $700,000 out of total investment of $2,800,000

Founded in 1999, Soucy Rivalair specializes in the subcontracting of metal parts of all sizes. It offers a range of services that include machining, stamping, assembly, welding, liquid painting, tube bending and forming, and inspection.

The project aims to support the company’s growth by adopting advanced digital technologies to support the production and marketing of the group’s innovative products. It involves purchasing state-of-the-art automated and robotic machining centres.

Bébé Urbain Inc.

Repayable contribution of $327,500 out of a total investment of $713,000

Bébé Urbain is a start-up company resulting from one year of R&D for the design of an inclusive baby carrier for premature infants up to 4-year-old children.

This innovative company, founded in 2017 by a young woman entrepreneur, has a two-phase project. Phase 1 involves finalizing the development of the baby carrier, producing samples and obtaining the required certifications. Phase 2 involves implementing a marketing strategy and protecting the innovation.

In addition to helping with the start-up of a company, the project will create one full-time management job and three part-time seamstress positions.

Les Artisans de l’Aube

Repayable contribution of $54,500 out of a total investment of $174,500

Founded in 1996, Les Artisans de l'Aube is a family business that began operations as an organic producer. The company specializes in producing and distributing organic and vegetarian ready-to-eat foods.

The purpose of the project is to improve the company’s performance by increasing its productivity and optimizing its production capacity. It will enable them to purchase new production equipment and expand the existing plant in order to better manage inventories and growth.

Summary

• Number of projects: 3
• Number of jobs created: 4
• CED’s contributions: $1,082,000
• Total investments generated by these projects: $3,687,500