The craft for its part employs nearly 2000 people

Southern meusien and besides Western concentrated the bulk of jobs related to the furniture industry in Lorraine, also this sector in the East of the Haute-Marne. The sector, changing, employs nearly 6,000 employees.

It is around 1870 that the furniture industry is coming around Neufchâteau in the Vosges

where it is going to develop for a little more than a century. "As a result of social problems, the workers of Saint-Loup-sur-Semouze where the Parisot group headquarters is still located seek to settle in other areas where they can find species they are accustomed to working." Besides West, South of the Meuse and North-East of the Haute-Marne are conducive to the culture of beeches, Oaks and trees, which provide the materials first furniture. "The néocastrien basin will soon become the first producer of carcasses of France seats, employing more than 2,500 people," said Jacques Draper, Mayor (PS) and President of the communauté de communes of the country of Neufchâteau.

This sector peaked in the 1970-1980s but, faced with competition related to massive imports of products in countries with low cost of labour, it is, since then, in perpetual restructuring. It is yet today 120 companies including more than 50 in the Vosges mountains employing about 3.800 employees. The craft for its part employs nearly 2,000 people.

To remain competitive, professionals have gradually diversified their activities towards the production of furniture in small series high-end integrating traditional know-how, such as sculpture and the work of contemporary creation sometimes in connection with great names of contemporary design. Some companies, such as Counot-Blandin, Delaroux et Cie, Style and comfort or Collinet work sites around the world, including in prestige hotel.

A movement accentuated by the constitution, in 1993, with the support of the Lorraine region,

Lorraine pole of furniture wood (PLAB).

This structure, with an annual budget of the order of EUR 1 million and which represents 80 of the companies, committed actions of collective promotion and support for the creation, innovation, technology transfer and export. "We are committed a second phase with our project of centre of excellence of furniture just be accepted among 175 poles of rural excellence," says Béatrice Laot'i, Executive Director of the services of the community of communes of the country of Neufchâteau. Accompanied by General advice of Vosges, Meuse and Haute-Marne, and the Regional Council of Lorraine, as well as Europe, intermunicipal structure is the pole, which will mobilize a financial envelope of 3.3 million euros, including a part reserved for the construction of a building of 1.200 metres square in the downtown with a showroom, a permanent meeting rooms exhibition. "In partnership with the Unifa (French furniture industry) and of the PLAB, we will leverage the expertise of the region and its offers of initial and continuing training (school, higher national school of wood industries and Afpia) and transfer of technology (CRITT Bois and technical Centre of the wood and furniture)", explains Béatrice Laot'i. The pole furnishings also wishes to develop the creation, in particular by inviting designers to Neufchâteau. "We would like to draw the experiment by the glass of Mesenthal in Moselle, which invites artists to revisit the old collections", says Director of the country of Neufchâteau.