VSTU to enroll unemployed and entrepreneurs for business administration training in September
Vitebsk State Technological University will begin recruiting entrepreneurs and unemployed individuals in September of this year to participate in the implementation of a business administration training project, Galina Yasheva, Head of the Department of Economic Theory and Marketing at VSTU, told a BELTA correspondent.
The project "New Technologies and Tools for Business Administration Training for Small and Medium-Sized Businesses in the Vitebsk Region" is funded by a grant from the "New Eurasia" information and educational institution using funds from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). In September, the Faculty of Professional Development and Retraining of VSTU will recruit two target groups for training: the unemployed population and entrepreneurs of small and medium-sized businesses.
As Galina Yasheva explained, training for already operating entrepreneurs will be conducted for the first time. The project implementation began with studying business needs through a survey, based on which the training program for the courses was later developed.
Meanwhile, in June of this year, the first target group graduated – 12 trainees from among the unemployed in Vitebsk, who studied the program "Fundamentals of Entrepreneurship." They studied business planning, marketing, taxation, accounting, economic law, and other disciplines. In parallel, they worked on the feasibility study for their businesses. "They had a good incentive – to receive a state subsidy for the development of their business. In the second quarter, it amounted to over Br16.2 million," noted Galina Yasheva, who also serves as the project manager.
During the month-long training period, participants presented economic justifications for their business projects to establish a hair salon, beauty salon, auto repair shop, construction materials store, sewing workshop, and others. Subsequently, the graduates defended their business plans at the university and the Department of Labor, Employment, and Social Protection of the Vitebsk City Executive Committee. All of them received subsidies, and the first results are already emerging. "The most active participant in the group, group leader Varvara Alexandrova, was the first to defend her business plan and receive a subsidy. On July 27, her beauty salon opened on Frunze Avenue. This proves the demand for such a form of training and state support for small businesses," emphasized Galina Yasheva.
Ekaterina Knyazeva