48 MICRO ENTREPRENEURS TRAINED IN CEBU

A total of 48 entrepreneurs from Central Visayas have graduated from the multi-sectoral batch of the Kapatid Mentor Micro Entrepreneurs-Money Market Encounter (KMME-MME) program of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI).

The project is in partnership with the Philippine Center for Entrepreneurship (PCE)-Go Negosyo and Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI).

The virtual graduation on Friday was graced by DTI Secretary Ramon Lopez, PCE-Go Negosyo Joey Ma. Concepcion III and Ma. Elena Arbon, the newly appointed regional director of DTI-7.

“Learning (through) online may present a lot of challenges but we are proud to have graduated the enrolled mentees. We wish you [mentees] not only to become successful entrepreneurs but job creators as well,” Arbon said.

A statement from DTI said Baywalk Enterprises owner Riezl Cabanero Chua has managed to finish the online course despite the challenges amidst the pandemic.

“We take pride in the work that we do and we will continue to improvise and develop new business strategies and innovations. Our business was closed [during the pandemic] but we have managed to shift to making face masks and face shields,” the entrepreneur from Balamban, Cebu said.

Chua, a working mom of two, used to be engaged in advertising, publication, and printing services which only resumed operations under the less strict community quarantine.

“With KMME, I have developed a wider perspective in the business. I learned to be more aggressive in my goals, to be less complacent, and to be more visionary. With the pandemic, KMME for me is indeed a very good motivating program that gave us hope for the future and sets back the fire and our burning passion in our businesses,” she said.

The 10-week program aimed to produce confident entrepreneurs engaged in different types of businesses with the right mindset and basic management skills to enable them to sustain their enterprises in the new normal conditions.

“My goal now is to fine-tune all our systems in the business [book-keeping, organizational structure, production processes, inventory system, and other existing roadblocks] and expand our network of production partners in preparation for planned biz expansion,” Chua said.

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