
The Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Small Business (MICM) announced the Small Business Center of the UNPHU University in Santo Domingo won a grant for US$52,500 from the Small Business Network of the Americas (SBNA) of the United States.
The purpose of the grant is to support and expand the SBNA through projects designed to expand the (SBDC) model, strengthen center to center SBNA partnerships, increase international trade, small business counseling skills and small business opportunities in underserved communities.
The resources will be used to develop programs to support entrepreneurship among young women and youths in general. Ignacio Méndez, deputy minister for small business at the MICM, said the funds would be used for two 10-month long programs that will benefit 75 Dominican youths, 35 from the Ministry of Youth with the pilot program Casa de Pension and 40 women of the Fundacion Prosperanza.
The Casa de Pension is a program that trains youths in entrepreneurship, and backs their participation in sociopolitical, educational, recreational, sports, cultural, scientific and technological activities.
Prosperanza is a social platform that seeks to offer new opportunities to women entrepreneurs through educational initiatives, vocational training and funding for micro business.
The program funds are provided by the US Department of State, the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs of the US Department of State in alliance with the International Business Innovation Association (INBIA), the Regional Center for the Promotion of Small Business in Central America (Cenpromype) and the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA).
Present for the announcement of the grant to the UNPHU small business program were: Enrique Rosales, director of the Centro Mipymes UNPHU; Judith Cury, president of Prosperanza; Miguel Fiallo, rector of the UNPHU; Ignacio Méndez, vice minister small business; Elvin Castillo, in charge of the student welfare program at the Ministry of Youth.
The UNPHU Small Business Center was founded in 2015 with the backing of the Ministry of Industry & Commerce.
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Ministry of Industry & Commerce
18 December 2017