{"id":2611,"date":"2019-07-03T22:18:49","date_gmt":"2019-07-03T20:18:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.investincotedazur.com\/?p=2611"},"modified":"2023-02-11T11:41:41","modified_gmt":"2023-02-11T10:41:41","slug":"team-cote-dazur-a-facilitator-of-american-attraction-in-the-alpes-maritimes-since-1960","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.investincotedazur.com\/en\/team-cote-dazur-a-facilitator-of-american-attraction-in-the-alpes-maritimes-since-1960\/","title":{"rendered":"Team C\u00f4te d\u2019Azur, a facilitator of American attraction in the Alpes-Maritimes since 1960"},"content":{"rendered":"

With a total of 299 US-owned companies, the United States currently represents the largest foreign investor of the Alpes-Maritimes. Each year,\u00a0Team C\u00f4te d\u2019Azur, in charge of promoting business activities in the Azurean territory, plays a key role in assisting American companies wishing to invest or set up in the region. The agency currently updates an annual database of up to 500 North-American companies with strong growth in the High-Technology sector, and which are exporting or globalizing their businesses.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Historical context: Sophia Antipolis, a powerful European hub, has welcomed many US companies since the 1960s<\/strong><\/p>\n

Currently the largest foreign investor of the Alpes-Maritimes, the United States first settled in the region in the 1960s.<\/strong>\u00a01961 was a particularly crucial year, given the arrival of two American multinational corporations specializing in IT:\u00a0IBM<\/a>, which established offices in La Gaude, and\u00a0Texas Instrument<\/a>\u00a0in Villeneuve-Loubet. The 1980s was just as important, with a series of investments coming from several American companies, such as Digital Equipment based in Sophia Antipolis since 1980, and Dow Chemical since 1981.\u00a0By then, Sophia Antipolis had already confirmed its ambition to become a reknown international technology park.<\/strong>\u00a0Overtime and still true today, Sophia Antipolis, dubbed the European \u201cSilicon Valley\u201d, has turned into a powerful hub welcoming many US firms, especially those specializing in High-Technology.<\/p>\n

Despite the dot-com crisis in the 1990s, the period also revealed several socio-economic dynamics which are still topical in the region. Those dynamics include the\u00a0capacity to retain and attract workers thanks to local business opportunities and the renowned quality of life.<\/strong>\u00a0Many American employees therefore chose to remain in the area and launch spin-offs, startups or consulting firms. Such favorable opportunities encouraged other major US businesses including Cisco, Oracle, and Hewlett-Packard to invest in the C\u00f4te d\u2019Azur between 1990 and 2000. Furthermore, by establishing its European branch in Sophia Antipolis in 1995, W3C (World Wide Web Consortium) led the way to raising web standards in the technology park. Since 2000, many other American companies (Synopsis, Dolby Digital, Integra, Wall Street Systems, Symantec, IFF, Accenture\u2026) set up in the region, mainly to develop their European expansion strategy and therefore contributing to the local economic development and job creation.<\/p>\n

A majority of US set-ups in the Alpes-Maritimes were supported by Team C\u00f4te d\u2019Azur<\/strong><\/p>\n

Since then, the Azurean territory has kept on attracting American investors, mostly High-Tech experts<\/strong>\u00a0such as\u00a0Symphony<\/a>, Syneos, Booking, Fortinet, and Freescale. Some of the most significant involvements by Team C\u00f4te d\u2019Azur include:<\/p>\n