Michel Godet is an honorary professor at the French National Conservatory for Arts and Crafts (CNAM) and the founder of the Circle of Future Entrepreneurs. He is a member of the Academy of Technology and of the steering committee of the Montaigne Institute. He is notably the author of Le Courage du bon sens, La France des bonnes nouvelles and Libérez l’emploi (all published by Editions Odile Jacob).

The Grand Prix for local entrepreneurs is a French prize that aims to acknowledge initiatives that deserve to be publicised, recognised and, especially, reproduced as often as possible. Each one of the eleven inspiring prize-winning stories gathered here has been studied so that it can serve as a model.
The examples under review generally resulted from projects led by lone individuals who were capable of turning their weaknesses into strengths, and who, drawing on their willpower and persistence, enlisted the support and enthusiasm of their families and their local milieu, in order to succeed.
Their experiences demonstrates that with some courage and common sense the French economy could be set in motion once more.

• Besides the eleven Grand Prix winners, numerous other initiatives have received recognition and encouragement, both in large cities (Paris, Marseille) and in rural areas (Ardèche), in metropolitan France as well as in Reunion Island.