Romans

The city enjoys a diversified economic activity with presence of plastic and precision industry, food processing and the leading global producer of fuel assemblies for nuclear reactors, Areva, being the biggest local employer.

Historically, Romans economic development has centred on its luxury leather footwear industry. Even today, there are several old buildings that give testimony to the once-upon-a-time tanneries that used to exist in the city centre. However, the sector is in steep decline since the late 1980s and Romans is no longer the capital city for luxury shoes and leather. It is worth mentioning, though, that one new leather football boots manufacturer has just started producing and selling in the city centre and has extended the product to other sorts of footwear (even though the production is rather small).

The Rhone-Alpes is the second economic region in France, after Ile-de-France. This is the reason why, although being unavoidably hit by the recent economic downturn from 2008 on, it is today favoured by the relatively high overall economic development of the region.

Finally, Romans is placed in the heart of the touristic area Vercors - Drôme -Ardèche – Rhone. Having no specific tourist draw itself, it is nonethless well communicated: it’s between the region of ski resorts near Vercors and the sea, in the south of France. In addition, the city has a medieval heritage of high interest that is currently being upgraded.