A place for local talent
The Entrepreneurial House of Ungheni
Ungheni is a small, dynamic city on Moldova’s border with Romania. With the lowest rate of urbanization in Europe, Moldova seeks ways to stimulate the rural economy to provide jobs and promote wealth creation. Encouraging entrepreneurial activity in rural communities by offering tax breaks and other administrative support is a proven way to address these needs. With a grant of funding from the EU the Moldovan Ministry of Economy developed the initial idea to create regional centres for entrepreneurs. Ungheni was selected due to its proximity to the border, good transport infrastructure and reputation for excellence in agricultural practice.
60 companies have been
through the Business Incubator.
Roughly 70 per cent were successful.
As a requirement of the EU funding the authorities at local level pooled together local actors, building on existing institutions that were operating separately and coordinating them into a hub. By 2003 four organizations set up to create the Entrepreneurial House of Ungheni (EHU): Ungheni Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Ungheni Business Support Centre (UBSC), the Association of Agricultural Producers (UCALNIS), and international NGO Alliance Française.
“The local public administration offered furnished premises which needed general repairs. From the project’s funds the old building was reconstructed, with two wings added,” explains deputy director Dorin Budeanu. “As a body the EHU pays all the regular commercial taxes and has to meet the cost of all the usual expenses, from heating and maintenance to cleaning and security.”
The flexibility of local authorities in bringing in partner organisations, which were previously not around the same table, contributed to the sustainable outcome. They developed a workable scenario, and the project was set up with several main objectives, including the development of organic agriculture; creating and promoting exports to Romania; and setting up a one-stop-shop for Moldovan entrepreneurs to obtain export and customs documentation.
More than 60 companies have been through the Business Incubator. Roughly 70 per cent were successful, the rest dissolved or merged into other businesses. None of the entrepreneurs, most of whom came from the Ungheni region, dropped out during their period in the Incubator.
Mikhail Savin – known to everyone as Misha – is a former Moldovan military officer who felt he had a lot to offer on retiring from the army at a relatively young age. He noticed the large amount of building work going on in Ungheni as new residential and commercial properties sprang up. It occurred to him that all these new buildings would need furniture, and that he could be just the man to supply it.
He needed two things to turn his idea into reality; a supportive environment, not just a desk and a phone; and a distinctive proposition. He turned to the EHU to find a base. There, along with preferential rents, he had access to shared services in IT, marketing, legal and regulatory advice, and accounting, as well as mentoring and training in business plan development and management. He was also joining a growing community where residents draw strength from each other and share ideas, contacts, and experience.
Maintaining the business, accounting correctly,
doing market research… are all skills that
I have obtained here in the Business Incubator.
Misha describes the experience he has gained in the Business Incubator as invaluable. “Maintaining the business, accounting correctly, doing market research, and running other business activities, are all skills that I have obtained here in the Business Incubator,” he says. He also understands the importance of passing on that advice, and creating opportunities for the people he now employees in his workshop. He wants them to become entrepreneurs too. His lead cabinet-maker, Valentin Suliman, is eager to take him up on that; “In the future, I plan to buy in to this business and then eventually to have my own business. I want to be as successful as this company is.”
This entrepreneurial community was formed in 2003 as a result of funding from the EU’s Tacis Programme. Key partners include the Mayor’s office, the District Authority, and Ungheni Entrepreneurial House consisting of four non-governmental organisations. The partnership channels the economic potential of local businesses towards community development objectives. It provides capacity-building and growth assurance, performance management and supports the internationalisation of businesses.
Learn more about Ungheni entrepreneurial community (FR) and the ETF project.
