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Program
“Improving Communities Right Now!” (2008-2010)
CITI Foundation funded 2-year program Improving Communities Right Now Program located at: Gorodetsky Region in Nizhny Novgorod Oblast and Nevyansky Region in Sverdlovskaya Oblast. The budget of this Program is $157,000.
This initiative helped communities gain more confidence in conditions of a market economy by offering new business opportunities to community members, including first-time entrepreneurs and youth.
The key goal of the Program is to advance sustainable community development through supporting small businesses and expanding the local labor market.
Program management:
Funded by:
News
November 2008 | May 2009 | July 2009 | December 2009 | February 2010 | April 2010 | June 2010 | August 2010 | November 2010
Articles:
The article in magazine ECOLOGY AND LIFE 10’2010
Video
Russia Today: Nevyansk shows the way on entrepreneurialism
Video - Improving Communities Right Now
The Program consists of four components:
I. Needs assessment and stakeholder engagement
II. Training for the target group
III. Grant contest of business projects
IV. Program monitoring and evaluation
FSD managed the Program in cooperation with local partners: Environmental Education and Information Center, an NGO from Yekaterinburg, and Nature-Saving Technologies Center, an NGO from Nizhny Novgorod.
Main Results of the Program “Improving Communities Right Now!”
PROGRAM PARTICIPANTS
- Marina Koryakina, a private entrepreneur from Gorodets, whose dream came true with support from the Citi Foundation when she opened her own small tailoring shop. Thanks to Marina’s initiative, local women on maternity leave had an opportunity to work from their homes, while Gorodets residents are now able to use the shop's high-quality services.
- With support from Citi Foundation, Aleksan Sarukhanian, an entrepreneur from Nevyansk, opened a small shop to produce tissue boxes. He wants to give people with limited physical abilities, whom he employs in his business, a chance to feel like regular citizens instead of being dependent on society. He said: “My employees are very responsible people and we even have a quality control system. They are no longer disabled – they are normal workers of their small firm. And we will solve all problems because we are together.”
Program goals:
- Analyze local community priorities
- Assess small business needs to help them adapt to the changing conditions of a market economy
- Training for first-time entrepreneurs
- Consultations on business project development
- Grant contest of projects designed by entrepreneurs and the practical implementation of these projects
The Program offered training in the practical questions of opening, running and developing small businesses. Local residents had a chance to design their own projects for either opening a new business or modernizing an existing one. The Program was managed by the Fund for Sustainable Development in cooperation with its partners, non-governmental organizations Environmental and Education and Information Center, Yekaterinburg, and Low Impact Technology Center, Nizhny Novgorod.
Success Stories of Micro Entrepreneurs from Nizhny Novgorod and Sverdlovskaya Oblasts
As a result of the Program, over three hundred residents of Gorodetsky and Nevyansky raions attended training seminars devoted to business development. The business projects prepared in the course of these trainings were submitted for a contest; and six projects in Gorodetsky raion were awarded grants for a total amount of $35,000 and five projects in Nevyansky raion were awarded grants for a total amount of $30,000. Over 50 new jobs were created at the small businesses that appeared as a result of these activities.
“We are very glad that entrepreneurs were so enthusiastic about taking part in the training and contests. We think that this is a good sign showing that the country’s regions have a huge potential for developing small businesses and that the people are ready to work independently and be responsible for their own business. Small business is traditionally considered to be the basis of economic development in Russia and that is why the Citi Foundation will continue to provide support to such programs in other regions,” said Tatiana Avramenko, Corporate Social Responsibility Manager, Citi Russia, Moscow.
Along with addressing social and economic issues, the Program is helping people to view themselves as useful members of society; realize the good they can do for their communities; and contribute to the preservation of the cultural heritage of their country.
Thus, for example, Sergei Maslikov, an entrepreneur from Nizhniye Tavolgi in Nevyansky, used Program assistance to open a unique shop, the only one of this kind in the community, where he makes glazed tiles. He said: “The main problem of our village is that young people do not want to stay here. That is understandable, because there is no work. Our son recently returned from the army and I am sharing my experience with him, because I want our village to revive along with the traditions of the old Russian way of life. If not for the Program, we would have never been able to start the production of tiles based on traditional patterns. Now everyone is working with enthusiasm, because this is a rare option when rural residents have a job not far from their homes.”
Under the Citi Foundation Program managed by the Fund for Sustainable Development, the Gorodets Small Business Development Center helped local artisans create an open-air museum on two streets in the tourist district of the city by restoring traditional adornments on chimneys of old houses. This is another example of the revival of traditional arts and crafts. The Traditional Crafts, Painting, Sculpture and Architecture Development Center worked on a project involving the revival of the traditional blacksmith craft in the process of opening a tourist complex titled The Prince’s City. For the first time in many decades, the blacksmiths shop in Gorodets is once again working with two new jobs having been created in it.
“We are grateful to the Citi Foundation for its practical support of such a project. We believe that these efforts help people realize that initiative and readiness to assume responsibility can change their lives for the better. Besides, by developing one’s own business, entrepreneurs are proving that in order to do what you like best you do not have to go to a big city, but may successfully work in your own region and contribute to the development of your community,” said Oleg Fokin, executive director of the Fund for Sustainable Development.
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Citi Foundation supports organizations that help people advance their living standards, promote business development and prosperity of communities throughout the world. Citi Foundation is focused on programs in the following areas: 1) development of microfinance and microentrepreneurship; promotion of financial freedom; 2) support to small and developing businesses that contribute to economic development and job creation; 3) education that promotes personal and professional success of young people; 4) financial education that helps make responsible financial decisions; and 5) environmental protection through support of sustainable businesses that create jobs and contribute to economic development, while being environmentally friendly. For more information, visit http://www.citigroupfoundation.org
