Pangloss Labs receives the “Manufacture de Proximité” label from the Agence Nationale de la Cohésion des Territoires
As part of its Nouveaux lieux, Nouveaux liens programme, the French National Agency for Territorial Cohesion (ANCT) unveiled 61 new Manufactures de proximité on 18 July.
The Pangloss Labs association is proud to have been selected in the 3rd and final wave to become the only Manufacture de Proximité in the entire French Genevan metropolitan area and the 3rd in the department of Ain.
This is the second label received by Pangloss Labs, which has been a Fabrique de territoire since October 2020! Pangloss Labs is also the only manufacture de proximité with a renewable energy sector.
There are currently 100 third-places with the Manufacture de Proximité label, deployed throughout France.
The "Manufactures de proximité" scheme was launched in July 2021 by the National Agency for Territorial Cohesion (ANCT) and the General Directorate for Business, in conjunction with France Tiers-Lieux, to provide long-term support for entrepreneurs and craftsmen throughout our territories, and to provide impetus, within the framework of France Relance, for a programme of economic and engineering support for third-space production sites.
As a reminder, third-spaces are physical spaces for doing things together (coworking, connected campus, shared workshop, fablab... Third spaces are the new places for social links, emancipation and collective initiatives.
What is a Manufacture de proximité ?
Manufactures de proximité are productive third-spaces, which animate and provide services to a professional community. The aim of these local manufactures is to support local economic activity by enabling craftsmen, entrepreneurs and very small businesses to come together in small local production units and to benefit from services and training. The Local Manufactures will become a resource for local industry in order to relaunch the manufacture of products in France.
The Manufactures de proximité will receive grants of an average amount of 250,000 euros over two years to help them invest in local production machinery and equipment to improve their manufacturing capacity, consolidate their business model and purchase equipment for their professional community. The selected Local Manufactures all benefit from an engineering programme that has two components: A four-month incubation phase for project leaders to consolidate the project presented; a two-year tailor-made support phase for each factory, once the funding has been granted, to accompany the implementation of each project. This support aims to create a local economic dynamic and to encourage the promotion of trades, skills and know-how.
Manufactures de proximité are at the heart of the revival of business through territories and the revitalisation of territories through business. I have long defended these third-spaces that bring together VSEs, SMEs and craftsmen around sectors, objectives and values of the future, anchored in people's daily lives. These first 100 labelled structures contribute to our economic sovereignty: they must therefore inspire new ones
Manufactures de proximité are unique places where production tools and techniques can be shared, and they help to create a new economic and social dynamic in our territories. They are a lever for promoting our unique heritage and know-how. Our territories are a wonderful breeding ground for initiatives: I am delighted that these first 100 manufactures de proximité are helping to revitalise them!
"Facilitating access to a world of possibilities".
This is the raison d'être of Pangloss Labs, a non-profit association created in 2014. The mission of the association, based in Ferney-Voltaire in the Pays de Gex (Ain), is to create laboratories for experimentation and prototyping to support local entrepreneurial activities.
Pangloss Labs is a third-space that offers easy access to multiple physical spaces to share and pool tools, machines and workspaces, and provide opportunities for collaboration on different projects. Currently, we offer a Fablab, a Coworking space, and a shared wood workshop (the Woodlab), and are developing a metal workshop (the Metal lab) in beta test. The Pangloss Labs association has about 100 members with various skills. They include professionals (engineers and scientists, designers, creators, artists and entrepreneurs), but also students, retirees and passionate amateurs. By offering production tools, machines and professional skills that are simply not available elsewhere in the Pays de Gex, Pangloss Labs has a lighthouse role and thus responds to a need of companies, social actors and citizens of the territory.
Our action plan as a "Manufacture de Proximité" foresees the increase of the manufacturing capacities of our Fablab, the development of a professional services pole to support local companies and the development of professional training activities.
We are developing cross-border cooperation with various universities and schools: USMB, UNIGE and HEPIA. We are providing prototyping and experimentation support for the new renewable energy eco-system that is being developed in and around Hotspot, the first building of the Ferney Genève Innovation project.
Guillaume Cabrié, co-founder of Pangloss Labs and co-director of the Fablab, said: "We have already helped hundreds of local entrepreneurs with their businesses and increased the number of digital fabrication machines in the region. This award is recognition of this and will help us to move quickly to the next stage, making more and better products right here in France. "
For more information, see our Manufacture de Proximité Project or contact us.
On the 12th of January a small, determined group met at Pangloss Labs in Ferney-Voltaire to discuss why there isn't yet a Pangloss Labs Geneva site and what to do about it.
In a nutshell, although we have found some spaces in Geneva that meet our original half office / half workshop criteria, they are very few and far between. With the rent costs being much higher in Geneva than neighbouring France, to replicate directly what we did in France would need 45 people willing to pay a proportion of the rent, before we have the space. In addition, leases in Geneva tend to start at 5 years. With some of the offers we have, on projects under development, we'd need 45 people willing to commit to contribute to a collaborative association for 5 years, starting in 1-2 years time. That's almost impossible to do.
So, with the facts on the table, and with the aid of some decent French wine, we brainstormed on the possible ways forward. 
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Lots of small autoentrepreneur changes came in on January 1st, with the most important one being that now you must have a separate bank account for your autoentrepreneur business.
Good news in that social charges have reduced, and a new requirement for using online tools for uploading your accounts if your turnover exceeds a certain threshold.
More details at the 
