Monique F. Leroux Makes a Plea for Entrepreneurship and the Cooperative Model

Creating new SMEs is “ensuring fierceness” in fighting international competition

Lévis (Québec), May 30, 2008 – Today, Ms. Monique F. Leroux, Chair of the Board, President and CEO of Desjardins Group, made a fervent plea for entrepreneurship and the cooperative model with members of the Lévis Chamber of Commerce.

In her first major public appearance, Ms. Leroux invited all socio-economic players to commit to building the future together and to keep up their efforts in developing Québec.

Currently, the strong Canadian dollar, high energy costs, international competition and the aging population with its growing impact on labour availability are all factors that come together to create a situation that requires everybody to be extremely alert.

“What are our choices under these circumstances? Are we doomed by a sort of ‘demographic fatality’, as some like to believe, such that our economy can only lose ground in the near future?” asked the Desjardins Group President.

But Ms. Leroux believes that it is up to us to positively shape Québec’s economic development. Backed by the results of a recent study conducted by Desjardins Economic Studies, she considers the creation of new SMEs to be a sure-fire way of preventing the economy from being hidebound. It would also ensure fierceness in fighting international competition.

Ms. Leroux also recalled that Québec must strive to modernize production capacities in existing businesses, support innovation as well as research and development, and finally increase productivity through labour training and investments.

With a view to helping entrepreneurs take up those challenges, Desjardins offers them a comprehensive range of financial products and services. “Today, approximately 400,000 small and large businesses trust Desjardins. With more than $20 billion worth of outstanding debt in the commercial, industrial and agricultural sectors, we are the top lender in the province,” added Ms. Leroux.

It was no coincidence that Lévis happened to be the first city to welcome the newly elected Desjardins Group president. Ms. Leroux called to mind the fact that it was in Lévis that Alphonse Desjardins invented the unique business model: the caisse. She stated that, for all the Desjardins people: “Lévis is a powerful symbol. Our history began here and from here, Desjardins Group shines its light throughout Québec, Canada and across the world.”

Now more than ever, Desjardins is present in Lévis as the provider of more than 5,500 direct jobs. “The largest private employer in Québec is right here,” added the Desjardins president.

“All of Québec, and more and more of Canada, benefits from the presence of Desjardins,” stated Ms. Leroux. To this end, she brought up the preliminary results of a study currently being conducted by the Desjardins Economic Studies to assess the economic impact of Desjardins Group generating $4.2 billion worth of operating expenses in Québec.

“With the 40,000 existing jobs at Desjardins, the jobs it contributes to creating for its many suppliers and the jobs generated in turn by all these job holders through their consumer spending, we can see that Desjardins alone is responsible for creating close to 68,000 full-time jobs in Québec. And that represents a ratio of one to fifty jobs,” concluded Ms. Leroux.

About Desjardins Group

Desjardins Group is the largest integrated cooperative financial group in Canada, with overall assets of nearly $150 billion, as at March 31, 2008. It comprises a network of caisses, credit unions and business centres in Québec and Ontario, and some twenty subsidiary companies in life and general insurance, securities brokerage, venture capital and asset management, many of which are active across the country. Drawing on the expertise of its 40,000 employees and the commitment of more than 6,500 elected officers, Desjardins offers its 5.8 million individual and corporate members and clients a full range of financial products and services. Its physical distribution network is complemented by leading-edge virtual access methods.

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Nathalie Genest
Advisor, Information and Media Relations
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