Abstract EN:

In the mountains of auvergne and velay, there is a authentic industrial fabric, with diversified activities, old manufacturing, consisting mainly of little firms which remarkably managed to whistand the economic crisis. When asked about the location of their factories, managers from the mountains do not consider it as a handicap, but insist on some advantages of the country environment, especially the hight quality of local workforce. This picture of the situation is only made gloomy by a very unbalanced geographical distribution, the main activities being concentrated in the east. These conclusions go against the main ways of thinking, which often consider rural industry as a survival and underestimate its aptitude for modernity. On the contrary, the survey shows that the firms prove to be innovative, capable to adapt themselves to the present conditions of industrial production, the development of markets, the crisis, as well as to the constraints arising from their location. They achieve this by selling and exporting their products far away, and compensating for the inadequate local qualifications with training. The opinion that this situation would only be a survival is refuted by the renewal of the industrial fabric, which is mainly originated by local people who are attached to their region, and secondarily by outside creators. The main concern is the geographical readjustment of the mountain environment. Diffusion is possible but relies on a complex combination of conditions which are not equally met by the different regions. It spreading remains facilitated by an existing base, the decisiding factors are local cultures and the aptitude of the political representatives and all the people involved in the local development