In September, funding of the first flow of the winners of the third grant competition was completed. A total of twenty people received funding, including 17 beginning and 3 existing entrepreneurs. We would like to remind that Small Business Development Project 3 is initiated and financed by bp and its partners in Georgian Pipeline Company.
It is noteworthy that through competitive selection the project team always tries to select not only applications with a high potential for viability, but also those which are targeted to provision services for which there is a demand in the community. The third grant competition was no exception in this regard; local residents expressed their special interest in some of the selected projects. These projects are: beauty salon (village Amagleba, Vani), bicycle rental (village Grigoleti, Lanchkhuti), agro service (village Nigvziani, Lanchkhuti), furniture shop (village Chalatke, Zestaponi).
Tamar Akopovi (beauty Salon, Didvela, Baghdati), who will receive funding in January, is also full of enthusiasm. Meanwhile, her family is involved in construction of the premises. It will be a capital building of 30 m2 located on the central road, which will meet all the mandatory requirements for beauty salons. Tamar has quite extensive professional experience as well as her husband’s sister who will help her. Actually, two young women will be employed in the salon. The village is also happy because they they’ve been waiting a long time to have a beauty salon. Neighbors are happy to help Tamar’s family with the construction and express their gratitude to the project which established a framework for the necessary business.
Among the beneficiaries financed in the previous years, Yuri Lortkipanidze (squeezing juice from grapes, village Salkhino, Vani) should be particularly mentioned. His business is gradually gaining strength and becoming more and more recognizable in the villages around Salkhino and Vani. Yuri offers locals squeezing grapes with European technology and had a lot of clients this year, people even queued up.
Beneficiaries are especially pleased with the fact that their services are really needed in the community and express their gratitude to the project and its donor. The project team, in turn, is dedicated to equip them with practical skills that will help them in their successful development.