Four enterprises in Hungary to receive US $31,000 in total for further development and one-year advisory and training in the total value of US $20,000

NESsT and Citibank announced the winners of the 2010-2011 NESsT-Citibank For-Profit Social Enterprise Development Program on September 29, supporting the development of for-profit social enterprises in Hungary. Roxana Damaschin-Tecu, NESsT Enterprise Development Director in Europe and Batara Sianturi, Citi Country Officer for Hungary presented the awards to the winners at an award ceremony on September 29.

NESsT defines social enterprises as businesses designed to solve critical social problems. The for-profit social enterprises sell products and services, their activities being undertaken in the context of a social mission, such as supporting job creation for underprivileged people or addressing an environmental issue. Operating in the private sector, these businesses seek to balance both profits and mission to maximize financial gain and social impact.

Sixteen for-profit social enterprises participated in a ten-month program ran by NESsT, consisting of a series of business planning training and coaching, as well as developing financing methods to improve their bottom line and increase their social impact.

At the end of the program, four businesses were awarded more than US $30,000 in total to grow their enterprises, selected for developing the most successful business plans. In addition, they will enter the NESsT portfolio resulting in a one-year advisory and training opportunity in the value of over $5,000 each.

Batara Sianturi, Citi Country Officer for Hungary said, “Economic empowerment of small and growing businesses is one of the key focus areas of our community programs at Citi around the world and this program is an excellent fit in this framework. The tremendous positive feedback we received from the participating businesses reinforces our vision for this joint program with NESsT: We believe that by focusing on innovative solutions and delivering an approach that goes beyond only philanthropy we are building social enterprises and support them in gaining more space and attention in the profit sector.”

Zsuzsa Fodor, managing director of the top award-winner Csimota remarked, ”This joint program of NESsT and Citibank was a fantastic opportunity for us. During the one-year training we have learnt a lot about ourselves and our enterprise, including our strengths and weaknesses. The greatest outcome for us was to realize that social and profit goals are not at all incompatible. We wouldn’t have reached this stage without the help of NESsT staff and the professional support provided by Citibank volunteers, and we highly appreciate their kindness and patience.”

“We were very happy to receive so many creative and powerful entries this year. It was difficult coming to a final decision, but we feel that the four winning organizations truly reflect the current situation in Hungary, where an increasing number of private businesses are recognizing the potential of a social enterprise in delivering a critical social impact while leveraging an economic opportunity,” added Roxana Damaschin-Tecu, Enterprise Development Director for NESsT Europe.

The 2010-2011 NESsT-Citibank For-Profit Social Enterprise Development Competition was supported by the Citi Foundation. The program will continue with the 2011/2012 Competition to be announced in October.

15 Citibank volunteers have contributed to the development of the businesses as business plan evaluators, mentors and in some cases as co-trainers. They appreciated the methodology of the program and admitted that they had also learnt a lot from the businesses.

The award winning businesses are:

Katordór-Csimota Publishing House (Budapest) - Award: US $10,000 & one additional year of advisory and training: Csimota has earned good reputation as publisher of high quality progressive children’s books since it entered the children’s book market in Hungary in 2003. Csimota's books are known to deal with taboo themes, including diversity, tolerance, and other sensitive social issues. Beside the publishing work they have started to operate their own distribution network called Rainbow, which provides additional income to teachers and to mothers on maternity leave.

eMultiCoop (Social Cooperative) (Szécsény) - Award: US $7,000 & one additional year of advisory and training: The mission of the social enterprise is to improve employment opportunities and ensure equal access to basic services in the Szécsény area and surroundings. In line with this vision eMultiCoop already provides IT training programs, which they are now planning to expand with offering access to affordable internet services for all.

Cellux Group (Budapest) - Award: US $7,000 & one additional year of advisory and training: Since their foundation in 2006 the group has been actively engaged in promoting environmental awareness. On the grounds of their core mission they seek local and practical solutions to the critical global social and environmental issues of our time. The special environmental education methodologies they apply include unique art and design workshops where children and adults create new objects for their personal use from garbage – this way contributing to increasing environmental awareness in an interactive way.

Ilona Malom Workshop (Kapolcs) – Award: US $7,000 & one additional year of advisory and training: Ilona Malom is specialized in the design and manufacturing of hand made
timber playground equipment of high artistic value, as well as in the design and construction of complete playgrounds for municipalities, institutions and families. They work closely together with the local communities during the planning and execution phases and their work has significant community building impact.

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