The UrgencESS fund, which has helped nearly 5,000 small associations to cope with the crisis, has reached its target
In January 2021, Olivia Grégoire, Secretary of State to the Minister of the Economy, Finance and Recovery, in charge of the Social, Solidarity and Responsible Economy, mobilized an emergency fund of 30 million euros for social and solidarity economy (SSE) structures with fewer than 10 employees, hit by the crisis. This financial aid, ranging from 5,000 euros for structures with 1 to 3 employees to 8,000 euros for structures with 4 to 10 employees, has helped 4,866 structures experiencing economic difficulties related to the current turmoil, most of which are associations. The impact on job preservation is concrete: thanks to this support, nearly 16,000 jobs have been saved. Deployed by France Active and its 35 associations, UrgencESS has made it possible, in addition to financial aid, to support solidarity structures in maintaining their activity. They benefited from a diagnosis of their economic situation and received advice to help them find new financing solutions, notably thanks to the measures deployed within the framework of France Relance.Some of them also received support from the operation’s partners, such as the network of Local Support Facilities (DLA) or KissKissBankBank, the pioneer of participatory financing which belongs to the La Poste Group.
Olivia Grégoire
Secretary of State for the Social, Solidarity and Responsible Economy
The structures that we have been able to support through the crisis are better equipped to engage in the recovery, which concerns all economic actors in the country. We must now continue our policy of supporting SSE companies by developing new sustainable financing compatible with the solidarity dimension they carry on a daily basis.
Pierre-René Lemas
President of France Active
With UrgencESS, we have been able to provide a more than tangible response to associations as well as to companies fully mobilized on the development of social ties, culture or ecology. And we have also enabled them to think about their model for rebounding from the crisis and to project themselves into a fully supportive recovery.
Here are a few examples of structures
which benefitted from Urgencess
Solikend – Innovating for a local, off-season and solidarity tourism
Pyrénées Atlantiques
Solikend is an innovative project in the hotel industry in favor of the associative world, built on a unique hybrid economic model on the territory. Yoann Magnin, the creator, wishes to deploy the first solidarity reservation via a unique platform that references the “citizen hotels in New Aquitaine” and gives a part of the money as donations for the associations. This online reservation service for associations is based on several principles: a system for rapid use of donations, a system designed in the interest of off-season tourism players and a price modulation (between 75 and 125%) allowing different user profiles to participate in the collection of donations. With 7 jobs created in 2021, the structure could not afford to slow down its development with the pandemic: the UrgencESS bonus allowed them to stay the course and initiate a new phase of development of solidarity tourism in the Basque Country.
Triporteur à cartouches – Recycle your printer cartridges in Hauts-de-France !
The association of the Cartridge Carriers, known as “TAC”, was born in 2011 under the impulse of 3 people, with the objective of raising awareness of the general public to the environment and eco-citizenship. Based on the observation that many printing wastes are still thrown away in the common household waste, TAC organizes collections of used printing cartridges in Hauts-de-France from companies, associations, communities and individuals to recycle them. Very committed to the ecological niche, it carries out these collections in soft mobility with a three-wheeler in the city of Lille and in electric vehicles outside the city. Thanks to the latter, the association conveys the image and the concept to the general public. Weakened by the crisis, the structure benefited from an UrgencESS bonus of 5000 euros in April.
In the 19th district – A Chacun ses vacances
Located in the 19th arrondissement of Paris, A Chacun Ses Vacances is an association that offers leisure activities and stays for people with mental disabilities, regardless of the type and degree of mental disability, without discrimination. The association works with small groups: it always proposes activities or stays with less than 10 members. The supervision goes from 1 leader for 1 member to 1 leader for 3 members maximum. It offers regular activities : tennis, horseback riding, workshops and visits, and evening outings (restaurant, concert, bowling).
Like all tourist activities, A Chacun Ses Vacances has seen the pandemic shake its cash flow and benefited in June from the UrgencEss scheme to secure its jobs.
Tibert éditions : In Allier, illustrated books, a spirit of collection
Since 2016, Tibert Editions is dedicated to the rediscovery of beautiful illustrated books. Working on the entire chain of the book, the structure aims to revalue the craft of publishing and the beauty of the book as an object. The confinement, the closing of bookshops and the primacy of certain large stores for the sale of books has raised many fears for Tibert éditions which had never known a cash flow problem. The UrgencEss bonus came to secure the cash flow in April to allow the structure to hold on before the reopening.
Sitaphy: integration of the disabled in the Yonne.
Since 2002, the Sitaphy association has been developing a manufacturing activity for wooden medieval toys designed to promote the social and professional integration of disabled workers within an Integration Workshop (ACI). It produces nearly 40,000 pieces per year, in a sustainable development approach using only local wood. Very much rooted in its Burgundian territory, the structure sees its role as an actor of social cohesion recognized in the local integration networks. It contributes to the collective approaches of the ACI in the Yonne, runs various workshops and has established various partnerships with structures in the field of disability. Sitaphy received an UrgencESS bonus last May at the height of the crisis.
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2020-2021 Integrated report – Make the economy of connection living: everywhere, by & for everyone
The economy can create ties. What if strengthening social ties became the new horizon of a committed economy ?
Searching for social utility, integrating the impacts generated by the activity, making virtuous consumption choices, etc : this is how citizens, entrepreneurs and consumers are building our economic and social model together.
Because we are convinced that committed entrepreneurs play a decisive role in major social transformations, we are committed to working alongside them to create an economy that responds to everyone’s needs.
While our priority is the inclusion of all, we particularly support those who engage with others to ensure that we achieve these transformations. Our choices of funding and investment show it. In the same way, we work to integrate all those who are far from the economic circuits by securing their paths. This is what we aim to do through our guarantee, our consulting and networking services.
ENCOURAGE COMMITTMENT OF ENTREPRENEURS
Supporting committed entrepreneurs starts with encouraging their commitment.
We systematically integrate ecological & social issues in the impact research of a company, and we give a special place to the preservation of social ties in our financing choices, hence the large presence of territorial issues in our approach.
Every single project brings a new lesson and is an opportunity to improve our model. We propose 5 types of offers adapted to the different stages of a company’s life to meet their specific needs and remain connected to their social utility mission. Following the current crisis, we have developed our “Rebound Pacte”, adjusting our offer to the specific needs of the entrepreneurs in difficulty. We made improvements such as the creation of a solidarity recovery loan, which has helped more than 600 companies in their recovery in 2020.
“We had the biggest construction site of our history, but the COVID has rescheduled our works. It has unstructured our cashflow, our stock… We were exposed to a financial risk that we managed thanks to the solidarity-recovery loan. We were in position to turn around serenely”.
Vincent Paret – Director of Oasure, which has maintained its 11 jobs during the crisis.
INTEGRATE, PROTECT, GATHER
Securing access to funding to people who are far from the bank system has never been more useful than during this period of crisis. If this time is exceptional, so is our mobilization.
This mobilization has been strengthened in line with its objective: to create a sustainable, collective and a solidarity-based economic model through the commitment and transformation of society. Our work with all our partners in support of entrepreneurship is part of this cooperative approach. To develop social ties, the two priority axes are the support of inclusive and solidarity-based companies and the targeting of our publics.
Reintegration in the economic circuit is crucial in the fight against exclusion. Integration structures has been innovating for many years on the subject and offer solutions to revive social ties thanks to the integration of people furthest from the labor market such as : citizen who create projects in fragile territories, long-term unemployed, women entrepreneurs knowing difficulties to access funding, young entrepreneurs…
In 2020, our action definitively targeted creators in need. 42% of the projects supported were led by people in very precarious situations, including 23% of long-term unemployed or job seekers, 27% were in fragile territories, 30% of the creators were under 30 years-old and 55% had a high-school degree or less.
>Supporting women entrepreneurship
France Active & Bpifrance investigated the issue of women entrepreneurship through a survey conducted among 1023 persons and led by OpinionWay.
This survey confirmed the validity of the two organizations’ actions towards women, who are particularly confronted with difficulties in accessing financing. For those who do not feel able to start their business, social categories have a profound impact. For example, 77% of women surveyed in lower income categories, do not feel able to start their own business, compared to 61% among women in more affluent brackets.
>>Crisis support measures
France Active has quickly deployed measures to help entrepreneurs facing up the crisis thanks to concrete solutions to anticipate the relaunch of their activity.
As part of the specific solutions designed to face the crisis and prepare for the recovery, France Active has:
- Rescheduled guarantees and loans in collaboration with national & regional public bodies;
- Reinforced its Rebound Pacte with the solidarity-recovery loan, a €30 million-fund tool specially created for the COVID crisis, offering free loans up to €100 000 for entrepreneurs facing difficulties;
- The social and solidarity bonus created in 2020 has been strengthened and replaced in 2021 by UrgencESS, a special fund targeting small Social and Solidarity-based organizations (1 to 10 employees) funded by the French State Secretariat of social, solidarity-based and responsible economy and deployed by France Active.
Notable fact: In 2020, 14% of our activity was focused on this rebound stage against 3% in 2019.
In figures:
- 1 500 organizations have benefited from the solidarity-based recovery program, including 500 from the new solidarity-recovery loan;
- Around 1 000 small organizations’ request covered in 2020 thanks to the social and solidary bonus, an ambitious objective of 5 000 with UrgencESS;
- 49% of the activity on the rebound stage.
“Against the crisis, it was necessary to respond to the emergency and prepare the next step. Working collectively, supporting financially & being as close as possible to entrepreneurs: that’s what France Active knows how to do, it’s why we joined the solidarity-based recovery program.” Axelle Davenzac, Director of “Fondation de France”.
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2020-2021 Integrated Report – Have a look at the actions we led during this special year
Our actions in figures
The following figures for 2020 prove that we were responsive to the crisis and effective for the recovery.
Read the integrated report
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Meeting with Claude Alphandéry, honorary president and founder of France Active
On the occasion of the release of France Active’s new strategic plan, Claude Alphandéry, Honorary President and founder of France Active, looks back at the creation of the organization. He recalls the fundamental principles laid down at the time of its creation, as well as the evolution of France Active’s scope of action, adapting to the evolution of society and need.
https://vimeo.com/576650577%20
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France Active at the Europan Social Economy Summit in may : Save the date !
France Active will host 2 online sessions alongside European stakeholders on May 27th at the European Social Economy Summit.
The European Social Economy Summit (EUSES) is a jointly organized digital conference by the European Commission and the City of Mannheim. The conference aims at strengthening the social economy in Europe and harness its contribution to economic development, social inclusion as well as green and digital transitions.
> a 90-minute session on promoting the way in which multi-stakeholder collaboration allows social finance to meet the needs of social enterprises, alongside:
- Center for Social Investment (CSI), Germany
Center for Social Investment is a multi-disciplinary research center attached to Heidelberg University. - Finansol, France
Finansol is the French network of actors involved in solidarity-based finance. - Inpulse, Belgium, Poland and France
Inpulse is an investment manager with special know-how on social investments and microfinance based in Belgium, Poland and France active throughout Europe and the MENA region. - Socialni Inovatori, Slovakia
Socialni Inovatori is a private Slovakian social bank investing in social entrepreneurship and social innovation.
This session aims at promoting the way in which multi-stakeholder collaboration allows social finance to meet the needs of social enterprises. In bringing together investors, citizens, national and European public authorities and social enterprises, social finance represents a model of cooperation around a common goal: fulfilling the SDGs through social entrepreneurship.
> a 90-minute session on how Europe can boost the replication of social innovations on territories, alongside :
- Ashoka Impact Transfer, Austria
Impact Transfer is an initiative of Ashoka, which facilitates the cross-border replication and transfer of social/environmental innovations and makes them available where they are needed and demanded by local stakeholders. - European Social Catalyst Fund, Ireland, Germany, Belgium
The European Social Catalyst Fund (ESCF) is a new initiative which aims at bringing together public and private resources to improve social services to enable people who need support to live as valued and participating members of their communities. - Simplon.co, France
Simplon.co is a network of digital training centers offering free courses in digital professions that are currently in high demand, which seek to include those jobseekers who are underrepresented in the digital world. Since 2014, Simplon.co is going international and is currently located in 4 other European countries (Romania, Spain, Belgium, Switzerland). - Supercoop, Germany
SuperCoop Berlin aims to create a community-owned supermarket to provide high-quality and sustainable food at fair prices.
While paying attention to the stakes (cooperation, adaptation …) and to the support and funding needs at all stages of replication (conception, implementation …), the session aims at promoting the diversity of ways to replicate relevant social innovations, with a view to better address the social and environmental challenges Europe is facing.
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UrgencESS : a €30 million-fund for small non-profit organisations and social enterprises
Paris, le 22 janvier 2021
The French State Secretariat of social, solidarity-based and responsible economy launched a support fund to help small non-profit organisations and social enterprises with fewer than 10 employees cope with the crisis. The France Active network has been chosen to implement this fund.
The €30 million-fund called UrgencESS is available since January 2021. It provides small non-profit organisations and social enterprises with:
- an assessment of their economic situation, to help them receive the aid and support measures to which they are already entitled or new financing solutions;
- a grant of €5,000 or €8,000 according to their size and needs;
- non-financial support via a local capacity-building programme (Dispositif local d’accompagnement -DLA) for those who are eligible.
The UrgencESS support should enable social non-profit organisations and social enterprises with fewer than 10 employees to maintain their activity during the crisis, to cover their wage bill costs and to face cash flow problems.
UrgencESS aims at supporting 5,000 social organisations by spring 2021. To ensure a rapid roll-out, France Active will rely on its 40 regional associations all over France. Thanks to their knowledge of local challenges and stakeholders, each of them will help the fund’s beneficiaries beyond financial support. Furthermore, they can provide organisations that will benefit from the UrgencESS fund with access to a unique network of economic and social stakeholders to help prepare the relaunch of their activity in the aftermath of the crisis.
Olivia Grégoire
State secretary of social, solidarity-based and responsible economy
Social enterprises are fully eligible to the French government emergency measures since the beginning of the crisis. However, many of them are not aware and do not ask for this aid: the challenge is to give them the means to activate it. Beyond information, if access to aid remains difficult, it is necessary to complement those measures: this is the objective of the UrgencESS fund.
Pierre-René Lemas
President of France Active
France Active is working with socially committed entrepreneurs to tackle the economic challenges triggered by the crisis. We mobilise our partners at the national and local level, as well as the shareholders of our guarantee and investment companies. Socially committed entrepreneurs can count on us. The emergency is solidarity. It concerns us all.
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Territories, digital, citizens : tomorrow altogether for the relaunch ?
What lessons have we learned from the crisis? What are the conditions for a recovery that does not deepen inequalities further? These questions reexamine the roles of territories and digital technologies to bring about new solutions for all. France Active’s President, Pierre-René Lemas and the economist Daniel Cohen, discuss these ideas.
According to you, what are the main lessons from this crisis ?
Daniel Cohen : First of all, by its scale, this crisis is unique. You have to go back to the 1930s to find a comparable intensity, and the shock is far more considerable than that of 2008. And while it is forcing us to rethink the way we work and function, we see that it has generated a lot of inequalities. One of the most glaring is the possibility of working from home, where 60% of higher education graduates have been able to work from home compared to only 3% of workers.
Pierre-René Lemas : Three aspects particularly struck me. Firstly, the concern of companies about their future. This is despite the responses provided by the public authorities, the regions, etc. in terms of financing. Secondly, we have seen very strong expressions of solidarity. But how can we ensure that all these local initiatives do not remain provisional? Finally, many responses – independently of national plans – have emerged at local level, within small and medium-sized towns, conurbations, groupings of solidarity-based companies, associations, etc. It seems to me that these are the main elements for getting out of the crisis: but if and only if these initiatives are supported, otherwise they risk remaining ephemeral.
This period, paved the way for a huge development of the use of digital technology, to work, communicate, have fun, live together… how is that meaningful for the future ?
D. C. : At the beginning of the crisis the lack of masks, medicines, tests, has highlighted the limits of globalization, which has accelerated since the 1990s. I would now see a transition between a globalized capitalism and a digital capitalism expressed, for instance, through teleworking or telemedicine. This is nothing new, but this crisis has unveiled the project what we could call « the economy of confinement » where we try to dematerialise everything which can be. It is an open door for both the best and the worst. The best, if it gives more autonomy and breathing space between the different strata of life (professional, personal, etc), or when digital technology supports this solidarity drive in the territories. The worst, when it comes to dehumanising relationships.
This crisis has also shed a new light on the role of territories. What opportunities do you see in that ?
P-R. L. : All those involved in economic and social life are now talking about « decentralization », « solidarity », « cooperative”… but be careful not to empty these words of their substance. The question is to find how to put some sense back into them. The answer is not simple, but I will give an example. With the confinement, everyone has rediscovered their home, their housing. But how is the housing adapted to 2020 or even 2030 ? Even more so in working-class neighborhoods, where the housing were designed in the 1960s and now turn out to be too small, poorly ventilated… And by extension : what is the neighborhood ? the town ? the city ? With the crisis, these elements of daily life are real opportunities for change. It will necessarily be a long-run mechanism, it will not change with one finance law. In order not to miss this opportunity, it is up to the national and territorial decision-makers to take them in hand by relying on the living forces of the territories – associations, groupings of municipalities, consular assemblies, chambers of agriculture, trade unions, etc.
What are the perspectives you see for the relaunch ?
P-R. L. : I believe that the addition of local initiatives – even small ones – in the field of solidarity-based economy, can contribute to a global response to end the crisis. So let us be very attentive to the concrete needs of the socially-committed entrepreneurs. When we meet with them, most of them tell us they managed to solve their cash-flow problems thanks to the financial aid from the government. But, in order to restart fully, they need capital and equity to consolidate their situation and thus be able to exit the emergency response to build a longer-term rebound.
D. C. : The crisis is not over. Therefore, it seems premature to talk about relaunch. First of all, we must draw all the lessons from this period and the way we could recreate social intelligence to rethink social life. There is a whole field to be invented, with the human link as a common thread. It is a formidable call to our imagination, to propose new solutions, which can be based on digital technology but not as an end, and rethink the organization of the State, local
authorities, and neighborhood relations. A relaunch led by the state will not be the answer. It will be a relaunch with the actors closest to the problems. Up to the public authorities to give them the means to act.
Bio
Daniel Cohen is an economist, specialist in sovereign debt, professor at the Ecole Normale Supérieure and at the University Paris | Panthéon Sorbonne, Vice President of the Paris School of Economics and director of the Center for Economic Research and Applications (CEPREMAP). He is the author of the book entitled « Il faut dire que les temps ont changé… » (Albin Michel, 2018) and « La prosperité du vice » (Albin Michel, 2009).
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Emergence Programme: From idea to realization
1/ An essential support at a critical stage
In order to stimulate social innovation and encourage the emergence of projects that will provide concrete solutions to the social and environmental problems we face, France Active has developed the Emergence programme. It is organised to support entrepreneurs who give priority to social utility and who wish to contribute to the development of a sustainable and inclusive economy.
As part of this programme, events are organised every month to put new entrepreneurs in touch with financial actors and experts on different themes. This unique networking opportunity is complemented by an advisory component and a financial bonus intended to finance the feasibility study and the modelling phase of the entrepreneurial project. Each month, France Active therefore pre-selects a certain number of projects, then presents them during this forum which brings together for half a day 6 new entrepreneurs who present their project, as well as the financial partners and experts of this programme. At the end of this session, the financial partners decide whether or not to grant a bonus to the different projects presented. The bonuses are awarded according to the financing needs of each project. These sessions are an opportunity for the experts and financial partners to challenge the entrepreneurs and their project, but also to help them assess their financial needs, build appropriate financial solutions and enhance the social impact of their project. This support will then continue throughout the experimentation and final validation phase of their entrepreneurial project.
This stage is intended for projects in the prototyping and maturing phase, before validation of the economic model.
At the end of the experimentation phase, once the project is secured and ready to be launched, France Active can redirect the entrepreneur towards its other support and financing tools such as guarantee, solidarity loan, investment, etc.
2/ Looking back on its 1st year of existence
This national programme was launched in September 2019 and is celebrating its first anniversary with 54 projects supported for a total of €1 million in premiums distributed. A real boost for the emergence of innovative projects throughout France! In total, 11 sessions were organised during its first year of existence, despite all the obstacles: national strikes, lockdown, etc. The entrepreneurs, France Active and the partners were able to adapt and pursue the development of this programme. The diversity of the social purposes of the selected projects should be noted:
* Access to housing : 13%
* Employment, training and support of vulnerable people : 33%
* Social action and struggle against social exclusion : 5%
* Sanitary action and access to medical care : 4%
* Sustainable food systems and development of the organic sector : 17%
* Circular economy and eco-activities : 17%
* Territorial cohesion and proximity economy : 11%
3/ A network of valuable partners
France Active was able to launch this new programme thanks to the financial support of a multitude of public and private actors, such as : Caisse des Dépôts, Banque de France, Fape EDF, BNP Paribas, Fondation Carrefour, Fondation MACIF, Groupe Malakoff Humanis, Klesia, MAIF. These partners are present on the day of each session, to discuss the projects with their owner, challenge them, give them advice and possibly grant them a prime.
Finally, this programme operates thanks to the essential participation of expert partners : Antropia, ARES, AVISE, CCAH, FAMAE, Food de rue, Groupe ID’EES, La Ruche and Make Sense. Also present during the sessions to advise and support the entrepreneurs, they answer the question and help them secure their project.
59%
of the projects are led by a woman
11%
of the projects are led by a team
76%
of the entities who benefitted from a grant are an association
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France Active and the European Commission, joining forces to support the launch of the Seed Fund
France Active has been working with Europe for more than 20 years, to develop social cohesion, ease the access to employment through entrepreneurship and enhance social innovation.
To do so, France Active has benefitted from European funding and recently, the European Commission and France Active have strengthened their fruitful cooperation in the frame of the launch of the Seed fund. Indeed, as a result of a call for proposals under the EU program for employment and social innovation (EaSI), France Active has been awarded a grant to launch this program.
Over the next two years, France Active aims at financing and supporting 100 social business in metropolitan France as well as in its overseas territories, for a total investment of €10 million.
This Seed Fund was officially launched on February 4th, 2020, in presence of Ann Branch, Head of the « Job Creation » Unit, in the « Employment, social affairs and inclusion » Directorate at the European Commission.
https://vimeo.com/458169844
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