Romanian entrepreneurship, a solution for the unemployed

The unemployed or people that are looking for a career change have the option to learn from professional trainers how to start their own business. One initiative in this area, that gained track, is the “Start Entrepreneurship” project, initiated in August 2010 by The European Association for Better Life (AEVB), together with several human resources companies. The project has a budget of RON 16.2 million, benefiting of co-financing from European funds, and partnerships were signed with public employment authorities (AJOFM, ANOFM) in order to increase the efficiency of the inititiative and reach the target audience.

“Start Entrepreneurship” will continue until January 2013, but already 20 unemployed will benefit in the following months from assistance and financial support in starting in their own business. Such is the case of Andrei Zamfirescu, a 25 year old trying to open a business in the auto sector: “I found out about this project in a tough moment, being unemployed for almost 6 months. I had the idea of a business but I needed some advice on ways to materialize my initiative”. Zamfirescu’s business plan was selected by the project coordinators and will recive full support for turning it into reality.

Costel Maciuca is another winner of the “Start Entrepreneurship” , who is trying to open a stake-restaurant in the Old Center of Bucharest. He worked for 13 years in the restaurant industry, in the U.S., but decided to return home and start his own business here: ”The products in Romanian restaurants are good, but the customer service is poor, so the experience I gained abroad will help me do something here”.

Half into the project, 110 people graduated from courses in entrepreneurship, while another 37 obtained diplomas from personal development courses. Another 10 unemployed appealed to the project coordinator, AEVB, in search of a job.

“The programme in Romania was based on the Greek experience, where the project was implemented 3 years ago. Both the academia and consultants were involved in setting up the methodology of this project”, explained Radu Mateescu, project manager.

Felicia Zarojanu, one of the project trainers, revealed that some of the business ideas included a donut shop, a jewelry shop, an ostrich farm or a bakery for people suffering from diabetes.

The project infrastructure comprises of 3 regional centers and a local office.
You can find more about this ongoing project at www.start-antreprenoriat.ro.