DTI MENTOR ME PROGRAM. More than 250 aspiring and existing entrepreneurs, mentees, members of local government units, students, exhibitors, and guests join Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Calabarzon Regional Director Marilou Q. Toledo (center holding the tarp) in a group photo session during the launching of the 4th Kapatid Mentor Me Program (KMME) program for Quezon province, which was held at the St. Jude Coop Hotel and Event Center in Tayabas City on Aug. 30, 2018. (Photo courtesy of DTI Calabarzon)
TAYABAS CITY, Quezon – The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Calabarzon has launched its Kapatid Mentor Me Program (KMME) program for the fourth time in Quezon to scale up micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in the province.
DTI Calabarzon regional information officer Mia Angeline V. Cortez disclosed to Philippine News Agency on Monday that the launching event at the St. Jude Coop Hotel and Event Center in this city on Aug. 30 gathered more than 250 aspiring and existing entrepreneurs, mentees, members of the local government units, students, exhibitors, and guests, the fourth of such training and mentoring session since 2017.
Cortez said the DTI, in partnership with the Philippine Center for Entrepreneurship (PCE), initiated the KMME Program to help the country’s micro and small enterprises (MSEs) scale up their enterprises, spur economic activity, generate employment opportunities, and mainstream OTOP (One Town, One Product) entrepreneurs who are ready for business expansion.
The program gathers a pool of experts and industry leaders who provide a series of free mentoring for MSMEs during the 10 to 12 sessions.
The sessions include training on mindset and values of a successful entrepreneur, product development, marketing, operations management, accounting, taxation, finance, obligations and contracts, human resource management, supply and value chain, succession planning, and business plan development.
“We are doing our best to help our MSMEs level-up and prosper through our programs like KAPATID Mentor Me. We, the DTI and our partner agencies, are in the journey with our MSMEs towards success,” said DTI Calabarzon Regional Director Marilou Q. Toledo.
Gracing the KMME launching was Quezon Provincial Agriculturist Roberto D. Gajo, representing Governor David C. Suarez, and ALONA Party List Rep. Anna Villaraza Suarez.
The Suarez program,through the Mentorship for the Advancement of Entrepreneurial Ability (MANA), reaches out to Quezon’s homegrown entrepreneurs in the countryside to empower MSMEs through mentoring and training.
Outstanding ASEAN woman entrepreneur Sherill R. Quintana, president of ORYSPA Spa Solutions, Inc., shared to MSME participants how to develop the entrepreneurial mindset and values formation.
“The enterprise is a sum total of the entrepreneur’s visions, dreams, motivations, energies, resilience, passions, and values. There are so many good brands all over the world but very few great brands survived because the difference lies in the founder’s ability to transform passion to enterprise,” said Quintana.
The event also featured Special Programs Consultant and Go Negosyo Angelpreneur Victor Madlangbayan, who discussed business marketing, and Chona D. Bandola of Charn’s Food Products who shared her success story.
The launching of the program also provided a venue for business consultations and one-on-one coaching sessions from speakers and local mentors.
Karen Roque, owner of Klassroom Delights Café in Lucena City also shared her excitement as one of the 24 mentees in this batch after the KMME program was launched in 2017, when she was merely an event participant.
Roque said she joined the KMME program after inquiring from the DTI-Quezon provincial office on the agency’s programs for MSMEs in the hope that she could improve the management system of her company.
“My goal is to expand my business. To do that, I need to be armed with appropriate knowledge and skills, and I believe that Mentor Me could help me achieve that,” said Roque. (PNA)
