Microfinancing and Mentoring For Small Business Owners

As a follow-up of the official visit of the Principal of St. Louis Bogor Sister Cities Committee, Alex Soetjipto, to the City of Bogor, Indonesia, last year, the comittee is currently working really hard to realize the following project as stated in the following note concept.

Microfinancing and Mentoring For Female Small Business Owners

In Bogor, West Java, Indonesia

Note Concept

The Purpose of the Project:

1. To strengthen the relationship between the US and Indonesia by enhancing the relationship between Bogor and St. Louis communities (particularly the small businesses communities).
2. To help poor communities in the City of Bogor get out of their poverty with specific focus on assisting female entrepreneurs.
3. To enhance the image of the US among the rural communities in Indonesia
4. To follow up the official visit of the Principal of the St. Louis-Bogor Sister Cities Committee to the City of Bogor

The Method of Achieving the Purpose of the Project:

1. To provide the targeted segment - the female small business entrepreneurs - with seed capital through a federal grant to better their means of production
2. To provide the female small business entrepreneurs with business management knowledge through a federal grant to better manage their enterprise. This will include knowledge to better manage the seed capital.
3. To partner with an educational entity in the US such as University of Missouri-St. Louis to provide the long-distance training for the female entrepreneurs.
4. To match targeted segment (either individually or in group) with mentors (counterparts from the US), so the relationships with the female entrepreneurs can be nurtured. These mentors would be assigned by the educational entity and could include representatives from SCORE – the US Small Business Administration from St. Louis communities.

Prepared By:
St. Louis-Bogor Sister Cities Committee

The committee has been in communication with several entities to make this project a reality. The following are some of the entities we have been in communication with about the project:

* The City of Bogor (while Principal Soetjipto was in the City of Bogor)

* The Indonesian Embassy in the US

(Please click here to see the picture of the meeting)

* The Indonesian Consulate General in Chicago

* The University of Missouri - St. Louis, Missouri

* The World Trade Center Saint Louis

* The SBA in St. Louis