OVLD to Assist North American, Asian Companies in France’s Orleans Loire Valley

     The

year

2005

reportedly

has

been

a

banner

year

for

’s

Cosmetic

Valley ,

created

in

1994

to

promote

synergy

among

cosmetics

and

perfumery

businesses.

According

to

the

group,

the

area

is

concentrated

in

the

Orleans

Loire

Valley ,

Chartres

and

Tours

areas,

located

10

to

100

miles

southwest

of

Paris .

In

July

2005,

the

French

Government

officially

recognized

the

Cosmetic

Valley

as

a

National

Competitiveness

Cluster,

for

over

10

years

having

promoted

the

image

of

luxury,

perfumery

and

cosmetics

“Made

in

France”

to

the

world,

thus

reaffirming

France’s

position

as

the

world’s

leading

developer

of

perfumery

and

cosmetics

products.

     One  month

prior

to

achieving

this

national

honor,

the

group

expanded

geographically

and

welcomed

new

companies,

research

organizations,

training

centers

and

economic

development

authorities

to

stimulate

economic

development

and

international

competitiveness

through

joint

innovation

and

research

projects

in

the

areas

of

the

beauty

and

well-being

sciences.

Today

the

Cosmetic

Valley ’s

membership

includes

200

companies,

three

universities,

dozens

of

public

and

private

research

and

training

organizations,

ten

local

government

organizations

and

approximately

1,000

researchers.

     Driven

by

renowned

names

in

luxury

products

such

as

Dior,

L’Oréal,

Guerlain,

Hermes,

Shiseido,

Paco

Rabanne

and

Yves

Saint

Laurent,

the

group’s

collective

savoir-faire

is

said

to

extend

to

every

aspect

of

product

development,

from

formula

to

finish.

The

activities

of

the

companies

located

on

its

territory

range

from

the

culture

of

aromatic

plants

and

plant

extraction

to

research,

formulation,

plastic

injection,

manufacturing,

packaging

and

logistics.

     Among

the

recent

Cosmetic

Valley

group’s

projects,

for

instance,

the

LVMH

Group

plans

to

create

a

“Skin

and

Well-Being

Institute”

centered

around

the

worldwide

production,

distribution

and

product

development

of

Christian

Dior

in

Orleans .

The

institute’s

mission

reportedly

is

to

develop

new

molecules

and

put

in

place

a

system

of

quality

control.

The

partners

of

the

project

include

the

Institute

of

Organic

and

Analytical

Chemistry

and

the

Center

of

Molecular

Biophysics

at

the

University

of

Orleans ,

the

Dermatology

Department

of

the

Faculty

of

Medicine

at

the

University

of

Tours ,

the

Orleans

and

Tours

hospitals

as

well

as

the

Christian

Dior

Laboratory

and

other

private

research

and

clinical

development

companies.

The

various

players

will

work

together

to

study

skin

cells

and

prove

the

effectiveness

and

non-toxicity

of

the

new

cosmetics

products.

     The

Alban

Muller

Group,

producer

of

herbal

extracts

and

natural

ingredients,

leads

another

project

entitled

“Herboretum.”

The

Herboretum

is

a

23-acre

beauty

and

health

garden

near

Orleans

dedicated

to

medicinal,

tinctorial

and

aromatic

plants

and

plants

for

perfumes,

a

greenhouse

with

exotic

plants,

an

arboretum,

an

orchard

of

rare

fruit

trees

and

a

vegetable

garden

planted

with

forgotten

species.

The

Herboretum’s

primary

mission

is

to

become

a

forum

where

botanists,

biochemists

and

pharmacists

can

collaborate

in

research.

Another

goal

of

the

project

is

to

become

a

think-tank

for

botanical

and

cosmetic,

pharmaceutical

and

health-food

applications

of

natural

ingredients.

     The

Cosmetic

Valley

also

has

made

efforts

to

reinvent

itself

and

create

a

new

structure

and

new

projects

to

ensure

that

the

cluster’s

economic

development

and

global

leadership

are

maintained.

Twelve

joint

research

and

innovation

projects

with

a

budget

of

30

million

Euros

in

total

reportedly

are

already

being

implemented.

     The

target

projects

of

the

renewed

Cosmetic

Valley

group

are

said

to

naturally

attract

the

interest

of

pharmaceutical,

medical,

packaging,

agricultural,

waste

management

and

biotechnology

companies,

which

are

keen

on

contributing

to

scientific

developments

in

the

beauty

industry.

Newcomers

value

the

region’s

location

one

hour

from

Paris ,

relatively

low

operating

costs

and

proximity

to

a

large

number

of

cosmetics,

perfumery,

pharmaceutical

and

other

manufacturers

in

the

area.

Many

of

these

companies

are

in

need

of

technical,

financial

or

human

resources

assistance

to

manage

their

new

activities

and

development.

     The non-profit

economic

development

organization

Orleans

Loire

Valley

Development

(OVLD),

an

active

member

of

the

Cosmetic

Valley ,

has

been

instrumental

in

helping

such

companies

find

office

locations

and

human

resources,

facilitate

setup

and

technology

transfer,

and

obtain

financial

incentives,

among

other

services.

In

2005,

OVLD

helped

Caudalie,

a

producer

of

skin-care

products

based

on

grape

seed

polyphenols,

prepare

the

set

up

of

the

company’s

European

packaging

and

distribution

center

in

Orleans.

     OVLD

has

also

been

assisting

Bottlemate,

a

cosmetics

packaging

manufacturer

from

,

with

opening

an

office

in

Orleans ;

and

Hydropole,

a

young

sanitary

risk

management

firm,

with

identifying

locations

for

their

site

construction.

     In

partnership

with

a

large

number

of

new

members

including

small

and

medium-sized

companies,

universities,

research

institutes,

training

organizations,

and

regional

economic

development

agencies

like

Orleans

Loire

Valley

Development,

the

Cosmetic

Valley

set

three

medium-term

goals

for

itself:

  • To

    encourage

    joint

    research

    projects

    for

    new

    beauty

    products

    as

    well

    as

    support

    the

    set-up

    of

    new

    companies,

    innovative

    start-ups

    &

    research

    units

    in

    the

    Cosmetic

    Valley.

  • To

    facilitate

    across-the-line

    cooperation

    and

    further

    development

    of

    complementary

    sectors

    such

    as

    biotechnology,

    pharmaceuticals,

    packaging,

    plastics

    transformation,

    medical

    imaging,

    agriculture,

    waste

    management

    and

    warehousing

    and

    distribution.

  • To

    create

    4,000

    to

    5,000

    jobs.

  •      Orleans

    Loire

    Valley

    Development

    (OVLD)

    announced

    it has

    set

    up

    an

    office

    in

    the

    to

    assist

    North

    American

    and

    Asian

    companies

    interested

    in

    having

    a

    presence

    in

    ’s

    Orleans

    Loire

    Valley .

    OVLD

    participates

    regularly

    in

    industry

    trade

    shows

    and

    2006

    plans

    include

    MD&M

    West,

    WestPack,

    Interphex,

    Cosmoprof

    North

    America,

    Cosmeeting

    Paris,

    PackExpo

    International

    and

    Emballage

    Paris.

         For

    more

    information

    on

    the

    Cosmetic

    Valley

    or

    Orleans

    Loire

    Valley

    Development,

    contact

    Mirka

    Cecet

    at

    IMEX

    Management

    Inc.

    at

    Tel:

    +1-704-365-0041;

    Fax:

    +1-704-365-8426;

    eimail:

    [email protected]; or on the Web at: www.investinorleans.com.

     

     

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