 Like in the rest of Quebec, the economy of the region is dominated by small and medium companies, as 96% employ less than 50 people.Often considered as a resource well by the government of Quebec, Bas-Saint-Laurent possesses a strong divide between its four industrial centers, Rimouski, Rivière-du-Loup, La Pocatière and Matane, as these benefited from the growth of the knowledge and high tech industry to assure their development and the smaller communities outside of these industrial centers often depending on a single industry from sectors in difficulty.The Institut de la statistique du Québec reports that the gross domestic product of the region was of 5 billions in 2009, registering a growth of 1.3% compared to the previous year.