East Europe Foundation is happy to announce the application process to the School of Business Support Organizations (BSO School) – Component 2 “On Guard for Business Interests.”

If you understand the needs of small and medium businesses, if you think what to do and how to help them, especially now, when the entire world is facing the economic consequences of the pandemic, if you already have the ideas and need tools for their realization – our new project is for you!

So what do we propose? BSO School offers modern tools for business climate improvement  and grants for launching your own project.

Within our School you will find out:

• why open data is so important nowadays and how to use it for business development;
• how to run your business operations online;
• how can businesses monitor the efficiency of government bodies;
• how to play important role, provide advocacy campaigns and efficiently cooperate with the government and local authorities.

You’ll also receive many other practical skills to provide business support, launch new services and face challenges.

With our support, you can develop your organization, elaborate the idea, receive grant and implement your project with the help of a personal mentor.

Please follow this link to apply. The deadline for application is April 27, 2020.

Who can participate?

Local organizations, including agencies for local development, centers for business development and support. Initiative groups whose purpose is to support/develop business and which are planning to register the official organizations mentioned above are also invited to participate. 

It is essential that the organizations and initiative groups:

• are registered and/or operate in towns or local communities with population up to 100 000 people;
• have the support and advocacy for small and medium businesses as one of the main goals of activities.

We also invite you to the online information meeting where you can find out more details about the application process and the opportunities our School offers. The meeting will be conducted on April 16, 2020 at 3 PM. You can join the conference here.

The results of the selection process will be announced in May, 2020.

You can become more effective and have a real impact advocating for the interests of small and medium businesses in your region! Together we can overcome any crisis and successfully move forward.

You can find more information about the School and application requirements here (in Ukrainian). If you have any questions or suggestions, please contact us by email bsoschool@eef.org.ua or phone

+380 (44) 200-38-24; +38 (095) 716-69-58;  +38 (050) 443-62-75.

The School of Business Support Organizations (BSO School) – Component 2 “On Guard for Business Interests” is implemented by the East Europe Foundation (EEF) supported by the USAID Competitive Economy Program.

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Additional information:

The School is composed of two components. The goal of the first component, which is implemented by CIVITTA, is to make small and medium businesses to local economic governance, establish the dialogue and join the efforts of local authorities and entrepreneurs for the sake of regional economic development. The second component, which is implemented by East Europe Foundation (EEF), is aimed to monitor the actions and work of local authorities and to improve the transparency of the cooperation between local businesses and the government.

The USAID Competitive Economy Program (CEP) supports startups, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to enhance their competitiveness in the domestic and international markets, fosters a more simple and transparent business-enabling environment, as well as advances an effective trade policy to enable Ukrainian SMEs to benefit international trade.