THE Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) continues its efforts on scaling up micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in Negros Occidental through the resumption of "Kapatid Mentor Me" program this month.
Romel Amihan, senior trade and industry development specialist of DTI-Negros Occidental, yesterday said they are launching the second batch of the program recipients on March 22.
Amihan said another batch of 20 mentees will avail of the program mainly aimed at scaling up their businesses through weekly coaching and mentoring by successful business owners and practitioners on different functional areas of entrepreneurship.
“Seeing the positive impact of the program to the first batch of recipients, the agency is pushing for covering more MSMEs in Negros Occidental," he said, adding that boosting local entrepreneurs remains a priority of the DTI especially amid the constant challenges brought by the Asean economic integration.
The DTI has partnered with the Philippine Center for Entrepreneurship (PCE) for the conceptualization of the "Mentor Me" program, which is one of the three components of its Project Kapatid along with adopt-an-SSF (shared service facilities) and inclusive business.
In July last year, the DTI launched the program in Negros Occidental covering an initial batch of 21 mentees, of which 18 completed the 10-module mentoring sessions for 10 weeks and graduated in October.
For this year, the agency has set the same guidelines in the implementation of the program especially in the identification of the recipient-mentees.
They should be 18 years old and above, residents of Negros Occidental, with businesses registered and operating for at least one year, must attend 10 weekly sessions on specific schedules, and willing to enter into a contract of commitment.
The modules include entrepreneurial mind-setting and values formation; marketing mind setting; market driven product development; market growth and expansion; business model canvas and key partners; operations management; supply and value chain; human resource and organization management; entrepreneurial accounting and financial management; taxation; and business law.
After completing the modules, they will present a business improvement plan to the panel composed of representatives from the banking, government, and private sector for improvement and possible financing.
The upcoming activity in Bacolod City will be attended by DTI officials led by Trade and Industry Assistant Secretary for Regional Operations Group Blesila Lantayona, PCE representatives, 15 mentors from Manila and the province, and 100 participating local MSMEs.
Amihan said that during the launching, the 20 mentees will then undergo the session for the first two modules.
"Through this program, we hope to meet the vision of upscaling our MSMEs," he said, adding that they expect to receive 20 potential business improvement plans from all the participating mentees this year.