MANILA, Philippines–The Management Association of the Philippines (MAP) is helping shape a new breed of economic movers.
Rising up to the challenge of ensuring sustainable and inclusive growth, the local business group recently launched an initiative to tap the potential of deserving local entrepreneurs by providing them the necessary assistance in terms of funding, mentoring and values formation.
“The program is called Emerge [which stands for Educated Marginalized Entrepreneurs Resource Generation program] because the participants are expected to emerge from where they are now to become successful entrepreneurs who contribute to job generation,” MAP president Francisco F. del Rosario Jr. said during a briefing last week.
“The focus of this program will be to assist the educated poor. We have been helping the poor, but now we would like to focus on the educated poor—the college graduates—and would like to go into business with [them]. Not the typical ‘mom-and-pop’ operations or ‘sari-sari’ stores, but businesses that really have big potential for growth,” he said. “What we want to do is to develop success stories.”
According to Del Rosario, the program will also consider as potential participants the high school graduates with technical or vocational training or exposure, the retired government employees, the families of uniformed services and the returning overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) who are keen to engage in projects or businesses.
Participants will be chosen by representatives from various sectors, as the Emerge program will have what it calls “Partners-in-Mission.” The partners are expected to inform their constituents about the program, provide mentors, help generate business proposals, help select the right participants, and nurture the projects and businesses into profitability.
The Partners-in-Mission will come from the following sectors: financial establishments, Philippine business groups, joint foreign chambers, the Church, education, foundations, corporations, embassies, multilateral and bilateral institutions, and government agencies.
Del Rosario said MAP is looking at an initial fund of P30 million, which the group expects to source from donations from the private sector, foundations, and various institutions. The funding will finance the equity requirements of a proposed project or business, with the balance to be sourced through a bank loan.
The target is to fund at least 10 projects a year, which should be in line with sectors that have a high potential for growth and job generation. These are agribusiness, tourism, infrastructure, business process outsourcing, and food and beverage industries.
For the mentoring aspect, the Emerge program will tap leaders (active or retired) in the Philippine business community, civil society, academe and the government, who are willing to provide free expert assistance in business management, particularly in areas critical to the profitability of a project or business.
Specifically, this pool of mentors will be tasked to help local entrepreneurs in developing a business plan, securing a bank loan of at least P1 million, and formulating the required management systems for the project or business.
“In line with what Pope Francis said, ‘mercy for the lost and confused and compassion for the poor and the needy,’ the MAP would like to call on its members and leaders of Philippine business, civil society, academe and the government to go all out for poverty alleviation by sharing their managerial talent, skills and resources,” Del Rosario says.
Also, the program’s proponents are expected to teach the participants the values of responsibility and honesty. The participants will be taught how to give back when their respective projects or businesses start to make money by having them agree that a portion of their profits must be poured back to the Emerge Fund in order to make the program more sustainable.
Apart from providing the much needed assistance to potential entrepreneurs, the Emerge Program will also help in developing entrepreneurship courses, particularly in state universities and colleges.
“In working together, we can envision a new breed of capable young men and women coming from the marginalized communities who will emerge as business leaders in the country and who, in turn, will generate employment for others,” Del Rosario said.