by (contributed news)
(MSU-IIT CSO-SEED Team with the 6 Social Enterprises)
AFTER EIGHT intensive months, the Mindanao State University-Iligan Institute of Technology’s (MSU-IIT’s) Social Enterprises concluded the incubation period with a “DEMO DAY”.
The Demo day was held at Lambago Hall, N Hotel in Cagayan De Oro on October 7, 2019. As a concluding event, all the Social Enterprises who participated in the CSO-SEED program were invited.
There were 36 social enterprises that came coming from eight different provinces in Mindanao, namely: Sulu, Tawi-Tawi, Maguindanao, North Cotabato, Basilan, Lanao del Sur, and Lanao del Norte.
These social enterprises were incubated by six Social Enterprise Intermediaries (SEIs). MSU-IIT, being one of the SEIs, is the sole intermediary coming from the Academe.
The six social enterprises incubated in MSU-IIT were the following:
- Wrup-up (Iligan City) – a social enterprise online job market platform providing free trainings to the youth.
- El Salvador Farmers Multi-Purpose Cooperative (Lala, Lanao Del Norte) – a social enterprise providing work for women by producing dried tilapia.
- Tambo Farmers (Munai, Lanao Del Norte)- a social enterprise who aims to supply “Sakurab” (white Scallions) to establishment producing Palapa.
- Lower Bangon Marawi Consumer Cooperative (Marawi City)- a social enterprise who is providing work for Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) by producing oil-free Palapa.
- Maranao Collectibles (Marawi City) – a social enterprise who produces weaved products specializing on “Langkit”, a traditional maranao weaving technique.
- Modern Farmers Multi-Purpose Cooperative (Ganassi, Lanao del Sur) – a social enterprise who is specializing on producing turmeric products.
(MSU-IIT’s Six Social Enterprise with Dr. Manubag, Dr. Bornales, Mr. Fajardo, Ms. Jennifer Sabainan, Senior Program Manager British Council Philippines, and Priya Thachadi, CEO Villgro Philippines)
The six social enterprises of MSU-IIT, together with the other 36 participating social enterprises, were asked to deliver a 2-minute pitch where they shared the nature of their social enterprise, their impact on the community, the value of the incubation, and most importantly their plans after the incubation period.
Aimed to link with potential investors, the Social Enterprises were asked to set up booths where they can showcase their products. Among the many potential investors who came were from Banco de Oro, Bank of the Philippine Islands, Small Business Guarantee and Finance Corporation, Philippine Textile Research Institute, Mindanao Trade Expo Foundation, and Ms. Jennifer Sabainan, Senior Program Manager of the British Council Philippines.
(MSU-IIT’s Social Enterprise Intermediary Team ( Mr. Fajardo, VC Bornales, Ms. Gaviola, and Dr. Manubag)
The Social Enterprise Incubation Program is part of the CSO-SEED program of the British Council and is being implemented by Villgro Philippines and MSU-IIT through the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research and Extension.
MSU-IIT as an SEI was spearheaded by Vice Chancellor for Research and Extension Dr. Jinky Bornales (Project Leader), Dr. Darwin Manubag (Project Member), Stephen Fajardo(Project Member), and Lindy Lou Gaviola (Project Member).