Walter J. Somers Foundation joins forces with Centre for Productivity and Prosperity - HEC Montréal

MONTREAL, Sept. 27, 2016 /CNW Telbec/ - The Walter J. Somers Foundation is pleased to announce a formal alliance with the Centre for Productivity and Prosperity – HEC Montréal. The centre will now be known as the Walter J. Somers Foundation Centre for Productivity and Prosperity (CPP).

"CPP's philosophies align with the values of our core business, Walter Surface Technologies", said Pierre Somers, Chairman and CEO of the Walter Group and the Walter J. Somers Foundation. "Our purpose is to help our customers work better, and The Walter J. Somers Foundation will now be in a position to extend these values by helping to improve the productivity of the institutions and businesses that look to the CPP for support. This will also contribute to the business success of Quebec and Canada."

"We're very thankful to the Walter J. Somers Foundation for their important contribution to the CPP," said Robert Gagné, the Walter J. Somers Foundation Centre for Productivity and Prosperity Director, as well as Research and Knowledge Transfer Director at HEC Montréal. "This new association reinforces CPP's mission. It reassures us that our research on productivity and prosperity will continue and the dissemination of those results will remain sustainable."

CPP will be able to count on $3 million worth of capital thanks to the Walter J. Somers Foundation. The funding, which will help it carry out its work, comes from an initial contribution of $1.5 million made to HEC Montréal by the Foundation.

About the Walter J. Somers Foundation Centre for Productivity and Prosperity
Founded in 2009, the HEC Montréal's Walter J. Somers Foundation Centre for Productivity's mission is twofold. Fundamentally, it's dedicated to carrying out research on productivity and prosperity, its main topics of study being Quebec and Canada. It also works to make sure its research results become known. The activities it organizes focus on making the knowledge transferable and accessible and, most importantly, educational. To learn more about the Centre, visit www.hec.ca/cpp.

About the Walter J. Somers Foundation
Inaugurated in 2002 by Haisook and Pierre Somers to honour Walter Surface Technologies' founder, the Walter J. Somers Foundation pursues the family's heritage of commitment to the community. The Foundation aims at contributing to the society's prosperity by supporting excellence in the education of our youth and by ensuring the continued improvement of its productivity. To date, it has given over $3 million to organizations promoting solution-based initiatives. www.walter.com/foundation

SOURCE HEC Montréal - Centre sur la productivité et la prospérité

Walter J. Somers Foundation Centre for Productivity and Prosperity, Liette D'Amours, Media Relations Officer, 514 649-2347, [email protected]; Walter J. Somers Foundation, Amélie Plante, DDMG Communications, 514-975-9425, [email protected]