Jean-Luc Chauvin: “We are transforming the CCI Aix-Marseille Provence as we would transform a company”
Les Nouvelles Publications: During its first general meeting, the regional CCI voted on the distribution of the tax for room expenses (TFC) between the CCIs in our territories. Where is the budget CCI Aix-Marseille Provence (CCIAMP) ?
Jean-Luc Chauvin: For this year, we are keeping the same budget package, i.e. a payment of €13.7 million for the TFC, out of a total budget of €32 million. I remind you that in 2016, this same payment was 32 M€ and a few years ago 50 M€… The State made it drop heavily, depriving us of income…
Another element to take into account: with the Covid-19 crisis, the activity of our house was impacted, in the same way as that of the companies: the income from our commercial activities fell. For example, since 2020, we have lost 2.5 M€ of budget on the management of Marseille-Provence airport, due to the sharp slowdown in air traffic. In total, we lost €8.5m in 2020 and €3.5m in 2021.
Where is the CCIAMP in its resource diversification policy?
In 2021, our budget was still 45% dependent on the TFC. We will continue our efforts to reduce this dependence and drop to 15% by the end of the mandate. We will continue the transformation of our CCI, accomplished during my first mandate.
We are transforming this house as we would transform a business. This obviously requires new financial income. Thus, we are developing our training offer for companies. In 2021, this activity generated €5.8 million in revenue, for €3.5 million in expenses. So we’re making money and we’re going to continue on that source. A more complete range of training will be offered, for levels bac +4 and +5, continuing education, VAE [Validation des acquis de l’expérience, NDLR]. We also play the proximity card with our training center located in Aix-en-Provence.
In this field of training, I hope to achieve a turnover of 9 to 10 M€ by the end of my mandate. Of course, there will be investments to be made. ISBA TP[Institut supérieur du bâtiment et des travaux publics, NDLR], with its 132 students, is practically complete… We will have to find a solution. The Kedge extension, as part of the large Luminy campus, is also a success. This complementarity with the University of Aix-Marseille brings us up to the standards of international campuses.
What are the other avenues for development for the CCI Aix-Marseille Provence?
We are developing our business support services. We have created a subsidiary “CCI Conseil et finance” to support developing companies, or companies with high balance sheets, which need to be consolidated. This involves taking entrepreneurs to public or private funders, or raising funds for them.
The tracks also go through diversification with the management of equipment. This is the case with Marseille Provence airport. We haven’t seen any real results yet. At the beginning of the concessions, you have to invest. But we were able to develop our skills.