Business Plan Competition, Ukraine: Report from Ivan Papish, Director of RCE-Ukraine

Dear friends:

As you all know during the year 2008 we had 3 seminars of Biblical Entrepreneurship (Principles of BE, Practices of BE and Planning Biblical Based Business). After the end of the third seminar we asked people to write there own business plans; it could be eitherer for a new business or for the growth of an existing business. At the end of the year of work, our Center had a celebration and invited all of the people that worked with the Center in one way or another, whether through La Red training, Biblical Entrepreneurship training, or the business symposium last year. At the celebration we gave certificates to everyone who finished all 3 seminars.

We had 51 participants in each of the 3 Biblical Entrepreneurship courses this year (and two of the students came to Christ in BE 2). Thirty-one individuals made it all the way through the third level of BE (Business Plan Development), and we had 14 BE Students present Business Plans at the competition last week. The next day we held the business plan competition.

Friends from America came to be with us and served as judges for the competition. We also had judges from the local Ukrainian business community: Tkachuk Grigory (Director of Car Dealership), Dutka Igor (a successful businessmen in several businesses), and Cherniy Evgenia (restaurant business); and Kucher Galina participated as a representative from Operation Blessing, Kiyv. From the US were Jason Benedict (RCE Strategist), Tim Judy (IMB Kingdom Business Missionary), and Mark Boyce (Kingdom Business Investor), and Tom Stansbury (RCE Entrepreneur-In-Residence). They were able to see some of the business of the BE Students.

The Business Plan competition was held in the office of the Center

People were presenting their business plans from 9 am to 6 pm. Judges had opportunity to see business plans and give their feedback and advice (all of the business plans were translated into English). We had 14 business plans, such as: a print shop, celebration planning (2 people), a kindergarten for children with intellectual and physical developmental challenges, concrete fencing, plastic window development, a fitness club, curtain rod production, Ukrainian traditional shorts, building cottages, furniture production, a tourist company, and English training (study in America).

Seven participants received the highest scores form the judges! All of those seven received souvenirs from Regent University

Top Business Plans:

Atamanyuk Dmitriy and Yulia # 1 (concrete fence production--pictured at right)
Karpik Oleg # 2 (Celebration planning)
Mamus Yuriy # 3 (Furniture production)
Kharkovsky Volodumer # 4 (Fitness club)
Tsibulsky Olexander # 5 (Cottage building)

Drevnitsky Oleg # 6 (curtain rod production)
Gumenyuk Mukola # 7 (Plastic windows)

We would like to thank all of who prayed for us and supported us. We pray that God will provide for all of your needs and bless you many times more.

Sincerely,

Ivan Papish
Director of the Center for Entrepreneurship “Success”, Ternopol, Ukraine