Developing Entrepreneurs

Business Plan Competitions
TechnoServe debuted its national business plan competition, Emprende tu Idea, program in El Salvador in 2002, to help aspiring entrepreneurs turn good ideas into thriving, growth-oriented businesses that generate jobs and other income opportunities. We now run annual competitions whose popularity has led to distinct sub-categories, for example focusing on women, agricultural innovation or information technology. More than 150 businesses have been launched or expanded, earning incremental revenues exceeding $15 million and creating hundreds of new jobs.
Key supporters: CONAMYPE, FUNDEMAS, FUSADES, U.S. Agency for International Development and various private, academic and governmental organizations

Entrepreneurship Training
TechnoServe, in partnership with the National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE), is running a Youth Entrepreneurship Initiative. Thousands of Salvadoran youths have learned business basics at week-long BizCamps™ and in business classes at several technical schools and universities. Graduates of the program have already gone on to launch dozens of new businesses, which have created more than 150 new jobs. The program has also served as a pilot for similar projects in other parts of the world.
Key supporters: U.S. Agency for International Development, the Argidius Foundation, Citi Group and others

Building Businesses and Industries

Agriculture& Agribusiness › Coffee
TechnoServe is helping a group of coffee groups become more profitable by growing and selling more lucrative specialty coffee. Using tools such as traceability software and quality management systems, our business advisors are training them in industry best practices that they hope will inspire other producers. One of the core cooperatives has seen its production of specialty coffee grow six-fold over several years, with a proportional increase in jobs, and a near doubling of their employees' wages.
Key supporter: Inter-American Development Bank

Agriculture& Agribusiness › Dairy
TechnoServe is helping dairy producers and processors to gain access to higher-paying but more demanding export markets. Business advisors are working with processing plants and their suppliers to help them improve the milking process, modernize plants and establish links with buyers. The program has increased the incomes of several hundred artisanal milk producers by up to 20 percent and has enabled 10 processing plants to lower costs and thus become more competitive.
Key supporters: ANPROLAC, ASILECHE, Proleche, the Salvadoran Ministry of Agriculture and Husbandry and U.S. Department of Agriculture

Agriculture & Agribusiness › Horticulture
TechnoServe has launched a pilot project to teach youths who have grown up in sugarcane families to profitably farm more lucrative and less risky products such as tomatoes and cassava. Business advisors are helping them to build low-cost greenhouses and irrigation systems and teaching them to cultivate, market and sell their new products. TechnoServe is also helping flower growers to create thriving businesses.
Key supporters: Coca Cola Foundation, Fundazucar, Inter-American Development Bank, European Union and U.S. Agency for International Development