Éric Giraudier, president of the CCI Gard, presented this Friday the projects carried out by the consular chamber over the coming months.
It was accompanied by Stéphane Djiane, executive director of the Sofrapark group, a French player in the secure heavy goods vehicle parking market, and Benoît Amarger, the director of Berthaud transport in Gard, that Éric Giraudier, the president of the CCI du Gard, yesterday presented the project for a secure parking lot for heavy goods vehicles which should see the light of day within three months at Kilomètre Delta in Nîmes. “This is a project that meets market expectationsunderlines the consular president. And which offers equipment that until now did not exist in Nîmes. »
160 parking spaces
Indeed, faced with the challenges of truck security faced by both transporters and insurance companies, three Gard entrepreneurs, in this case Benoît Amarger, Stéphane Djiane and Arnaud Aggoun, decided to buy from the CCI of Nîmes for an amount of just over €1.5 million for the four hectares of land it previously owned at the Nîmes Ouest motorway exit, with the aim of building 160 parking spaces intended for heavy goods vehicles only. “We want to create a completely secure site which is also a real living zone, explains Stéphane Djiane, whose company is currently managing five projects of this type throughout France which, let us remember, only has 19 secure car parks to date while Europe is planning 150 over the next ten years. We are going to develop the premises including toilets, catering, a laundromat, a picnic area, and even a shuttle so that drivers can reach the city center if they wish. »
Parking monitored 24 hours a day
Drivers who are subject to strict rest obligations “are waiting for a secure, quality service, says Benoît Amarger who is also president of the National Road Transport Federation of Gard. In this way, they will be able to rest in a place dedicated to this, and thus avoid illegal parking which is often dangerous and sometimes even disturbs local residents. »
In terms of security, the car park, of which for the moment only two hectares out of the four acquired will be used, will be fenced and equipped with thermal and dynamic cameras relayed to a private security and guard company which, if necessary, will intervene physically 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It will cost between €35 and €45 for truck drivers. An amount that they can pay with their motorway toll badge. “We are going to invest several million euros to create this car park which we also want to be eco-responsible with, among other things, the installation of solar panels and water recycling”specifies Stéphane Djiane.
Purchase of the exhibition center in Nîmes
Among the other projects carried out in the coming months by the CCI du Gard, we also find the purchase from the City, for a sum which has not yet been officially communicated, of the exhibition center which the chamber currently manages within the framework of the Delegation public service. “We should finalize this purchase in the coming months, says Éric Giraudier. Our idea is in particular to renovate the building and expand its surface area somewhat in order to expand the occupancy schedule. And possibly to be able to split it in two in order to organize, if necessary, two events at the same time. »
“We don’t sell off, we add value! »
The head of the Gard CCI also took the opportunity to provide an update on the progress of the work on the future Business Center located on the Nîmes ring road, near Georges-Besse park. “We are on time if we refer to the initial schedule, assures Éric Giraudier. We should move into the premises in January 2025, with an official inauguration planned for April or May. » The mention of this construction, which has received so much attention in recent months, was also an opportunity for the consular president to present the rationalization of the CCI’s real estate portfolio which has been underway for several months. “We sold around ten buildings. These buildings, for the most part, generated a lot of costs in terms of maintenance, energy improvements and also insurance. » Today, the chamber only owns the future Business House, the CFA of Marguerittes with the recent purchase of the Maison de la garrigue, the CFA of Alès and the historic high school on avenue Général Leclerc in Nîmes. “Regarding this campus, at the start of the school year we are going to repatriate the BTS students to the business center, and we are going to carry out renovation work within the high school. But for this work to be relevant, we need to know the details of the new reform of vocational high schools which has still not been released! »
Implementation of Gard 2030
In summary, the CCI of Nîmes according to its president presents “€51 million in assets compared to €46 million in 2016 when we took orders. This is the result of dynamic flow management. In other words, we don’t sell off, we add value! » Building on this result and wishing more than ever to see Gard business leaders participate in the economic development of the department, the Gard CCI has just initiated a prospective project called Gard 2030 – a nod to France 2030, the investment plan of the future announced by Emmanuel Macron – whose aim is to consult the 46,000 Gard companies and other associations, economic groups and branch organizations, in order to establish a series of economic proposals to be put in place in the years to come on the department. “We want to be a force of proposals for the future of the territory, declares Éric Giraudier. We are giving ourselves one year to gather and prioritize the results of these consultations which will be officially presented during the inauguration of the Maison des entrepreneurs. » In the meantime, the leaders of the CCI of Nîmes will undoubtedly have launched an influence operation with the State so that the Marcoule nuclear site becomes a place for testing future SMRs, these small-format nuclear reactors which could be manufactured in the factory before being transported to site and which above all could generate hundreds of jobs in the Gard.
