USAID Economic Security Program in Georgia: Start-Up Plan

The program began in April 2019, with a start-up plan developed by DAI to ensure a smooth operational start-up. The plan focuses on mobilizing long-term technical staff to concentrate on substantive programming, while the home office staff and a start-up team deployed to Tbilisi will concentrate on setting up the project operational infrastructure. The start-up team will be led by a Start-up Manager, Vahe Sahakyan, who will work closely with the Chief of Party, Mark McCord, and other members of the project team to provide necessary administrative and logistical support during the start-up period. The team will have a relayed approach to ensure a consistent presence in country for the first two months. Mr. Sahakyan will deploy on April 30, followed by Ms. Cole in May, and Ms. Hannessian in June. The technical start-up will be led by Chief of Party McCord, who will arrive in country on April 30. He will be supported by the Value Chain Assessment Lead, Marina Krivoshlykova, and the Project Team Director/Tourism Technical Advisor, Miguel Baca. The technical start-up team will oversee the implementation of activities and deliverables, including the Value Chain Prioritization and Gaps Assessment, the Annual Workplan, the Grants Manual, and the Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning Plan. The operational start-up team will focus on establishing an office in Tbilisi, recruiting for any unfilled local staff positions, and setting up DAI's financial and operational systems. The Start-up Manager has already coordinated with local realtors to identify a temporary office space for the start-up team and the long-term office space. The Start-up Recruiter will post several positions on local job boards and begin contacting individuals identified during the proposal process. The project will have a dedicated Start-up Recruiter, Evan Lege, who will directly contribute to the Economic Security Program proposal and closely coordinate with the proposal recruiter. The operational start-up team will also work to set up the regional Kutaisi office by Month 8 (November). The relayed approach will allow other team members to continue establishing the Tbilisi and Kutaisi offices once the Start-up Manager has left. The technical start-up will involve meetings with project DCOP, Component Leads, and Tourism Sector Lead, as well as kick-off the data gathering process to support the Value Chain Prioritization and Gaps Assessment. A workplanning kick-off meeting will be held in Tbilisi in early June, which will include all staff who have been onboarded, including operational staff, select HQ staff members, and partners Solimar and PMCG. The team will develop a detailed plan to complete initial key contract deliverables, including the Value Chain Prioritization and Gaps Assessment, the Annual Workplan, the Grants Manual, and the Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning Plan. The project will also conduct stakeholder consultations with key private sector and Government of Georgia stakeholders and donors. Specific technical tasks and timelines are included in the Gantt chart below. The project will work to complete project registration, open a project bank account, and identify temporary and permanent project offices in Tbilisi. The DAI start-up team will arrive in Georgia, and the COP will mobilize to Tbilisi. The DCOP and Component Leads will begin work, and the Recruiter will onboard new employees and recruit personnel for any still-unfilled positions.