Provincial Economic Growth Program

The program aims to enhance the capacity of the 14 existing SBDCs and establish three new centers in new locations, including Baghdad, Baquba, and Mosul. The SBDCs will provide technical assistance to the Provincial Reconstruction Teams (PRTs) in exploring the potential of SBDCs in their localities. The program's goals include building the capacity of SBDC management, stimulating the effectiveness of SBDCs in offering trainings, business-related services, and services in areas of economic activity. The SBDCs will also develop demand-driven products and services to address the business community's needs, as identified through market assessments. Additionally, the SBDCs will be encouraged to build strategic alliances with local government, ministries, and international agencies to diversify their funding sources. The program's engagement plan includes enhancing SBDC strategic vision and positioning, operational and financial sustainability, SBDC organizational structure, and procedures and reporting procedures. The plan also includes building strategic alliances, conducting economic surveys, performing chain analysis, and providing marketing and counseling services. The SBDCs will offer a range of training courses and services, including how to start a business, how to improve a business, how to conduct a feasibility study, specialized financial management, and specialized marketing training. The centers will also provide business association management, proposal writing, and computer courses, as well as consulting and counseling services and trade fairs, exhibitions, and conferences. The program's stages of maturity include start-up, learning, intermediate, and center of excellence. The start-up stage involves developing a business plan, conducting training courses, and providing operational manual. The learning stage involves developing a comprehensive business plan, policies and procedures, and procedures for staff and trainers. The intermediate stage involves updating the business plan, providing training topics, and diversifying revenue streams. The center of excellence stage involves fully reflecting the business plan, providing outreach and media plans, and achieving operational and financial sustainability. USAID-Tijara is developing new training material to address the main managerial needs of SMEs in the regions. The new courses will include courses on marketing products and services, bookkeeping skills, and business planning. The program will also provide additional training of trainers (TOTs) to enhance the capabilities of existing trainers and potential trainers. Additionally, USAID-Tijara will provide SME training courses over the next year. The program will also contract a training institution to provide intensive on-site managerial training to the SBDCs in critical management functions, including budgeting, SBDC planning, marketing, and methods for diversifying services. Furthermore, the program will provide each SBDCs with automated accounting systems to control their financial accounts and records, thus generating timely financial reports to manage their operations.