Senior High School students of Saint Mary’s University, Bayombong Nueva Vizcaya participate during the launching of the “Entrepreneurial Coaching and Mentoring project”

BAYOMBONG – About 288 Accountancy, Business, and Management (ABM) Senior High School students of Saint Mary’s University in Nueva Vizcaya participated in the recently launched “Entrepreneurial Coaching and Mentoring project” of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Nueva Vizcaya Provincial Office on February 10, 2018. Succeeding sessions were conducted on February 16 and 24, 2018.

The project was conducted by the DTI team headed by OIC-Provincial Director Henry O. Conel Jr., the Division Chief (DC) Alberto D. Pamatian, Mr. Roel P. Dolaypan Jr., Mr. Rashid S. Bautista, Mr. Marvin A. Tucay and Mr. Arjay P. Novida.

The Project aims to prepare senior high school students to entrepreneurial opportunities within the province and to capacitate students in creating and developing their business models based on their pre-study activities such as focus group discussions, survey, and creative market niche identification.

The pilot project was patterned from the “Kapatid Mentor ME” (KMME) Project, a flagship program of the Department designed to assist the Micro and Small Enterprises (MSEs) to sustain and scale up their businesses. The project also covered some modules adopted from the KMME Project which required students to develop their business plans as an output.

Mr. Alberto D. Pamatian, Division Chief – Business Development Division (BDD) of the DTI Nueva Vizcaya Provincial Office, served as the resource speaker on the following Modules: Entrepreneurial Mind Setting and Values Formation/Marketing; Business Model Canvass; and Supply and Value Chain Management.

DC Pamatian emphasized the importance of entrepreneurial activities in the youth sector by stressing that, “The most important thing in business plan development is how good is your marketing plan and how it correlates to the production, organizational and financial plans.”

Mr. Roel P. Dolaypan Jr., Senior Trade, and Industry Development Specialist of DTI, also shared his knowledge on the following modules: Product Development; Business Model Canvass; and Entrepreneurial Accounting and Financial Management. According to Mr. Dolaypan, Jr., “Business plan is just one part of the business paradigm, its preparation is also important. However, the most critical part is the implementation of the business plan.”

Mr. Rashid S. Bautista, Trade and Industry Development Specialist of DTI, lectured on modules Operations Management, Human/Organizational Management and Business Registration. He stressed the significance of Organizational Agility.

Meanwhile, Mr. Marvin A. Tucay, Technical Staff of DTI, shared some financial management tips on business operations.

OIC PD Conel Jr., said that this initiative can be replicated in other schools in the region to strengthen the regional MSME Development framework and to bridge the gap between the theoretical concepts and its application.

On March 9, 2018, students are expected to present their Business Improvement Plan for approval and implementation.

These activities are part of the initial phase of their business incubation training as they will implement their business plan within the campus. This will highlight the feasibility of their proposed business venture. This initiative will also be adopted to other senior high schools as well as business schools within the province as a strategy to promote entrepreneurism in the youth sector.♦