Institut supérieur des métiers

The Institut supérieur des métiers (ISM) is a French study and training centre dedicated to small businesses and the 'économie de proximité' — artisan trades, proximity commerce and the liberal professions. It was created in 1990, replacing the Centre d'études et de perfectionnement de l'artisanat et des métiers (CEPAM), and is structured as an association under the French law of 1901. Its founding statutes were signed on 5 July 1990 by the then minister delegate for commerce and artisanship, François Doubin, together with Jean Paquet, president of the Assemblée Permanente des Chambres de métiers (APCM), and Albert Léon, president of the Union Professionnelle Artisanale (UPA). The first board was installed at the ministry on 17 July 1990. ISM's mission is threefold: to carry out studies and forward-looking analyses on artisanship, proximity commerce and the liberal professions and their place in French and European society; to organise training and further education for managers and executives in those sectors; and to study methods and propose actions that support their development in a proximity logic. Over three decades it has built expertise on the economic model of the small enterprise across sectors including food artisanship and commerce, construction (BTP) artisanship, manufacturing artisanship, service artisanship, hotels and restaurants, health liberal professions, legal liberal professions, and technical and living-environment liberal professions. Its work complements public statistics, which are often incomplete for these sectors, and is used to train elected officials and staff of small-business employers' unions, small-business owners and their employees, and to inform economic actors. ISM runs conferences and publishes the Baromètre de l'Artisanat. It has also been involved in operational programmes: it built and ran the network of Pôles d'innovation pour l'artisanat et les petites entreprises, created an artisanship–university research network, was entrusted in 2006 with managing the French state label 'Entreprise du Patrimoine Vivant' (EPV), and originated the aides-entreprises.fr platform, now run by CMA France. ISM is governed as an association; its board has included the Union des Entreprises de Proximité (U2P) and CMA-France. It is presided over by Anne de Blignières-Légeraud, a doctor of state and lecturer at Université Paris-Dauphine, and directed by Catherine Elie. Following the withdrawal of the state from its board in 2019, ISM refocused its missions on studies and training. It is based at 53 rue Ampère, 75017 Paris, and publishes regular notes and barometers on business failures, salaried employment and the state of artisanship in France.

The Institut supérieur des métiers traces its origins to a reflection launched in 1988 by François Doubin, then minister delegate for commerce and artisanship under François Mitterrand, on measures to help artisan enterprises access innovation more easily. That mission led to the creation of ISM in 1990, replacing the Centre d'études et de perfectionnement de l'artisanat et des métiers (CEPAM). On 5 July 1990 the founding statutes were signed by Minister François Doubin, Jean Paquet, president of the Assemblée Permanente des Chambres de métiers (APCM), and Albert Léon, president of the Union Professionnelle Artisanale (UPA). On 17 July 1990, again at the ministry, Doubin installed the first board of the new body. The project had been carried within the ministry by his technical adviser, Françoise Sabatier, who later became Commissaire Générale of SEMA, the society for the encouragement of art crafts, which became INMA (Institut National des Métiers d'Art) in June 2010. At the installation, the minister stressed that ISM should be a resource centre working in a network. Over the following decades ISM developed programmes for small enterprises. It constituted and ran the network of Pôles d'innovation pour l'artisanat et les petites entreprises to support artisan firms in their innovation efforts. To encourage university research on the economic and sociological world of the small enterprise, it built an artisanship–university network that helped open research to artisanship by creating teams of researchers and artisans. In 2006, under the 2005 law in favour of small and medium-sized enterprises and its implementing decree, ISM was entrusted with managing the French state label 'Entreprise du Patrimoine Vivant' (EPV). ISM also originated the aides-entreprises.fr platform, later piloted by CMA France. In 2019 the state withdrew from ISM's board, after which the institute refocused its missions on studies and training. It continues to produce studies, notes and barometers on artisanship, proximity commerce and the liberal professions, and to train the elected officials and staff of small-business organisations. Its governance is associative: the Institut Supérieur des Métiers is an association under the 1901 law administered by professional organisations, institutions and experts of the proximity sectors, and its board has included the Union des Entreprises de Proximité (U2P) and CMA-France. It is presided over by Anne de Blignières-Légeraud and directed by Catherine Elie, and is based at 53 rue Ampère, 75017 Paris.

• 2019

  The state withdraws from ISM's board; ISM refocuses on studies and training.

• 2006

  ISM is entrusted with managing the state label 'Entreprise du Patrimoine Vivant' (EPV).

• 1990

  ISM is created, replacing CEPAM; founding statutes signed on 5 July by François Doubin, Jean Paquet and Albert Léon.

• 1990

  First board of ISM installed at the ministry on 17 July.

• 1988

  François Doubin, minister delegate for commerce and artisanship, launches a reflection on helping artisan enterprises access innovation.

A non-profit study and training institute acting as a resource centre and network hub for French artisan businesses, proximity commerce and the liberal professions, complementing public statistics and supporting public policy.

• Baromètre de l'Artisanat

  Regular barometer on French artisanship, published with MAAF.

• Études sur les défaillances d'entreprises de proximité

  Quarterly notes on business failures in artisan, commercial and liberal sectors, produced with U2P.

• Formations pour les responsables de l'artisanat

  Training and further education for elected officials and executives of small-business organisations.

1. 1Accueil - Institut Superieur des Metiersinfometiers.org
2. 2Histoire Archives - Institut Superieur des Metiersinfometiers.org
3. 3Défaillances des entreprises artisanales, commerciales et libérales au 2e trimestreinfometiers.org
4. 4Institut supérieur des métiers - Wikidatawikidata.org
5. 5Institut supérieur des métiers - Wikipédiafr.wikipedia.org