During its Annual General Meeting, Aéro Montréal, Québec's aerospace cluster, launched a new initiative called Accelerator 360°.

This initiative aims to promote Québec SMEs' business development efforts in global supply chains. Faced with major changes in supply chains, SMEs need to reassess their business strategies and, in particular, develop their international customer base. “For SMEs, reaching a critical mass is essential to provide a more comprehensive offering to foreign customers and thus win major contracts on international aircraft programs,” explains Suzanne Benoît, President of Aéro Montréal.

The Accelerator 360° involves four stages:

1- Recruitment: Companies will be targeted and grouped based on their different strengths and potential for synergies;

2- Preparation: Market development experts will help companies develop their strategic plan and provide training on the various market requirements;

3- Propulsion: This involves validating a chosen market and deploying efforts there;

4- Consolidation: This step will involve the development of potential partnerships and mergers/acquisitions.

“International competition is fierce and the growth of our SMEs hinges on their ability to provide a more comprehensive offering to attract foreign OEMs or Tier 1 and 2 suppliers,” says Mrs. Benoît. “The Accelerator 360° aims to support the growth of Québec's aerospace SMEs by leveraging their internationalization, consolidation and collaboration efforts.”

This new program, deployed by Aéro Montréal, has received $5 million in financial assistance from the Ministry of the Economy, Science and Innovation and meets the objectives set out in the 2016-2026 Québec Aerospace Strategy related to supporting SME development.