At awarding ceremonies held last December at the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Complex, Citi Microenterprise Development Center honored outstanding micro entrepreneurs as well as the microlending institutions that helped them succeed and grow.
Named the National Winner was Enrique Fojas of Bulacan, owner of Cookie Mill Feeds which recycles stale breads from bakeries in Bulacan that would otherwise be bound for the junk yard into high-protein feeds for the fish ponds that proliferate in the province.
Fojas won a cash prize of P200,000 and will receive a four-week entrepreneurship training and small business advisory and coaching sessions at the Citi Microenterprise Development center.
The regional winners who each won P100,000 as well as training and advisory services were Marylyn Cleto for Luzon, Reginal Paller for Visayas, and Nedy Ann Ty for Mindanao.
Cleto parlayed her small sari-sari store in La Union into a mini grocery, soft-broom manufacturing company, computer cash and G-cash remittance center with loans from Tulay sa Pagunlad.
Paller runs a well-patronized roadside eatery with loans from Valiant Bank.
Ty, together with her husband, produces mountaineering gear and apparel and has expanded into four branches with help from Rizal Microbank.
In his acceptance speech, Fojas adviced those aspiring to go into business to consider the resources around them and how they can help people and how they can help you. He stressed that business is not just about making profit but about helping people. “Always think of the welfare of your workers so they will be loyal and work well.”
Photo: from www.citibank.ph