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An Enterprise Development Worldwide Initiative

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Inkubator De Afaceri, Sfântu Gheorghe, Romania
Enterprise services and incubator facilities for young entrepreneurs

Background

Romania joined the European Union (EU) in January 2007. Although the country’s income level remains one of the lowest in the EU, reforms have increased the speed of economic growth. Romania has the ninth largest territory and the seventh largest population (with 22 million people) among the EU member states.

Sfântu Gheorghe is one of the oldest cities in Transylvania, a geographical region of Romania, having first been documented in 1332. The city takes it name from Saint George, the patron of the local church.

Inkubator De Afaceri, the business incubator in Sfântu Gheorghe, was founded in 2002 by the Association of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises from Covasna County (ASIMCOV). Built in 2006 and housing 20 enterprises at a reduced rent for a period of 3-5 years, the Inkubator provides a range of services including business and legal advice, marketing, enterprise training, accountancy, business plan preparation and trade show organisation. Other facilities include meeting rooms for hire, furniture rental, telephones and extensions, office services, Internet access and technical equipment.

YBN.3

Run by Covimm Consulting, a non-governmental, non-political organisation, the Centre’s role in YBN.3 was to improve young entrepreneurs’ skills by organising training and seminars with specialist trainers. By promoting business studies, the Centre provided the necessary support for young people in the region who wanted to start their own businesses. They have good connections with local entrepreneurs, the local council, county council and educational institutions and believe that success is based on good collaborative relationships between people.

Director, Lajos Vajda says: “It is extremely important that young people start considering their future prospects at least as early as high school. What is more, it is valuable for them to gain knowledge in their particular fields of interest and to consider entrepreneurship as a career option”.

Within the framework of the YBN.3 programme, high school students and young people with entrepreneurial ambitions had the opportunity to take part in free enterprise awareness training sessions.

In the course of the YBN 3 project, the Inkubator was supported in developing and establishing its youth enterprise programme by EDW and by one of our ‘older’ YBN Central European partners, the Neumann Youth Enterprise Centre (NIVAK), in Eger, Hungary.

During the YBN.3 project, the Inkubator De Afaceri:

  • Made 56 new contacts with schools;
  • Trained 26 trainers;
  • Provided 96 young people with business counselling;
  • Held 16 enterprise awareness events.

The aim of the project was to build on the Inkubator’s experience of advising on business development, by drawing on expertise provided through the YBN.3 programme, improving engagement with young people and enhancing the skills of its young entrepreneurs, through training and specially targeted seminars. It is also keen to disseminate the lessons learned from the project throughout the neighbouring counties in Romania.

Director Lajos Vajda and his team have been proactively disseminating information about the YBN.3 programme through marketing materials, media coverage and presentations to key groups and individuals in the region, such as schools, higher education establishments, local authorities and community groups, including the Roma community and orphaned young people over the age of 18. A very valuable enterprise awareness event also took place at a research exhibition at the University of Brasov, where Covimm Consultancy gave a presentation about the Inkubator De Afaceri and the YBN.3 project.

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