OREANDA-NEWS. The program for development of social entrepreneurship in Krasnokamensk has been elaborated and implemented by the regional Government, the Trans-Baikal Territory Development Foundation, the Regional Social Program Foundation “Nashe Budushcheye” (“Our Future”) and the Krasnokamensk Administration under the support from ARMZ Uranium Holding Co. (JSC Atomredmetzoloto).

For two days, “Dauria” Community Centre hosted the Exposition of Social Ideas. The exposition stands featured the most successful projects having been supported by the “Nashe Budushcheye” Foundation. These included, for example, a metal canning lid production project being carried out at LLC Etalon, Volgograd. This company renders assistance by employing visually impaired people. Another project involves establishment of the Inter-Regional Agricultural Complex “Shkola Fermerov” (“Farmers’ School”) undertaken by Vyacheslav Gorelov, a private entrepreneur from Perm. Annually, up to thirty orphanage graduates take training in agricultural business there. Most of the projects featured at the exposition are focused on organizing leisure activities and development of children from an early age, including Early Childhood Development Centre “Tsvetnoye Moloko” (“Coloured Milk”), Astrakhan; Creative Workshop “Veselyi Voilok” (“Funny Felt”), Rybinsk, Yaroslavl Region; “The Way to the World of Equal Possibilities,” Tula; “The Chudeyevo Family Centre of Creative Pastime”, Moscow Region, and others.

“All these projects have been implemented pursuing one and the same pattern. Their developers submitted applications for participation in various regional social entrepreneurship competitions, in which they became winners; thereby they were awarded grants or unprecedented loans. In Krasnokamensk, we also observe significant prospects for furthering social businesses,” says Olga Shlykova, Project Manager, “Nashe Budushcheye” Foundation.

Under the social entrepreneurship development program, Krasnokamensk also hosted a business start-up contest under the motto “To One’s Advantage and for the Benefit of the City.” During a month, Krasnokamensk residents could file a proposal with the city administration to fulfill a project for the enhancement of living standards and social environment. Authors of the best projects will be awarded grants amounting to 50,000 roubles. Following the interim results, the tender committee approved twenty one applications.
Margarita Savykina, who earlier worked in a position of computer operator at JSC PIMCU, decided to open a children’s cafй “Sladkoezhka” and submitted an application to participate in the competition. “This will be a pastry cafй suitable for visiting with kids. There are no such places in our city yet,” she commented. Another contest participant, Anton Burdinskiy, a legal advisor from JSC PIMCU, opened a shop offering child development and creativity items, “Oranzhevyi Slon” (“Orange Elephant”). He invested 200,000 roubles in this business and plans to make it profitable in eight months. These projects won not only due to their focus on children, but also due to the fact that they help create jobs in the city.

After being awarded grants, the project authors will be able to take part in a subsequent contest for receiving an unprecedented loan in the amount of 500,000 roubles. In view of Tatiana Skoraya, Head of Follow-Up Directorate, “Nashe Budushcheye” Foundation, many projects presented there have all chances to win.

Noteworthy is that for a long time, some Krasnokamensk residents have been successfully implementing social projects without any grants or loans. A display of works created by the “Masteritsa” (“Handywoman”) handicraft club members, held at the city library, served as one more proof to this fact. Creative work is not just a labor of love, but also a way to earn money by selling author’s items, as well as a means to provide employment to other people.

City residents, who are reflecting on the possibility to establish their own businesses, visited appropriate express training courses. They learned about social entrepreneurship, familiarized themselves with case studies on successful business ideas in various areas and discussed the most relevant social concepts for the city. Along with that, “Dauria” Community Centre housed a dialogue venue. Among invited consultants, there were specialists from an employment centre, a tax authority, legal firms, the Foundation for Small Business Support and banks, as well as from the city and district administrations.

It should be noted that the Krasnokamensk social entrepreneurship development program does not confine itself to the events carried out. In 2014, the city Foundation for Small Business Support plan to issue loans to the amount of 33 million roubles, while the Trans-Baikal Territory Governor’s Office announced call for applications for participation in competitive selection of community-focused non-for-profit organizations to be awarded budget subsidies.