Saulieu. By setting up in Morvan, J & B Systems Usinage has succeeded in its gamble

The challenge was daring, but more than ten years after attempting it, José Rodriguez and his wife Bérengère have no regrets. In 2014, these two entrepreneurs decided to leave the Sens region in Yonne, where they founded their machining company in 2008, to settle in Morvan.

"We knew this was a bold move. Setting up J & B Systems Usinage in the middle of a rural revitalization zone was a risky move," admits Bérengère Chabrier-Rodriguez.

The latter, however, explains that the desire to get back to nature, to improve their quality of life, and to be able to reconnect with their roots was stronger. "Plus, we wanted to be able to raise our children in a setting like this. Saulieu is the town of my great-grandparents. I'm very attached to it," she confides. And it was while planning a relaxing weekend in the Morvan that things accelerated for the couple.

“By chance, we came across an advert that said: ‘What if you came to settle in Morvan?’” says Bérengère Chabrier-Rodriguez, who saw this message as a sign.

After making inquiries, three towns contacted them again immediately: Dun-les-Places, Pouilly-en-Auxois and Saulieu. "There, we said to ourselves that it was more than just a sign and that we should perhaps try something," announced the couple who, despite the risks and difficulties that this installation represented, decided to embark on the adventure with their twins, Antoine and Émilie, who have always supported them and in whom Charlotte, born a few years later, would join them.

"We knew that this relocation would not be easy, that we would have to find a balance in our lives... But we were ready to take this risk, especially since we immediately had the feeling of being welcomed and wanted in this territory. This motivated us," assures the couple who were able to benefit from the support of the UIMM and the CPME, as well as that of Senator Anne-Catherine Loisier, mayor of Saulieu at the time, who played a facilitating role in this matter.

And, since their installation in July 2014, J & B Systems Usinage has never stopped evolving , despite sometimes difficult periods, such as those of the health crisis or the war in Ukraine. "In ten years, our turnover has increased by €400,000." A success that the couple attributes to the loyalty of their customers, some of whom have been with them since 2008, but also to the complicity and complementarity that drive them.

"We're a close-knit family. Antoine has already worked for us, and Émilie has just been hired. This support and team spirit is one of our strengths, but it's not the only one. Our responsiveness in responding to specific customer requests, helping them out, and our way of managing our team are also part of it," explains Bérengère Chabrier-Rodriguez, who points out that when they left Sens, their employees did not follow them for geographical reasons.

"So we had to recruit as soon as we arrived. We initially worked alone, then over time, we managed to expand the team by training people ourselves who weren't necessarily in the industry; it was the only way for us to find people. Today, there are six of us, including two hires made during the last quarter to cope with an increase in activity due in part to one of their biggest clients and a new company in the area which, faced with a shortage of employees, is using us to subcontract," explains the woman who therefore anticipates an increase in turnover in 2025.