SMC Expands Job And Skills Program To More Provinces, Provides Capital Assistance To Vulnerable SMEs
San Miguel Corporation (SMC), together with the Technical Skills Development Authority (TESDA), is expanding its skills development program to cover more provinces and provide financial assistance to small businesses in disadvantaged communities where it operates.
“As our economy starts opening up, there is an urgent need to help the poorest and most disadvantaged sectors get back on their feet. Many have lost their jobs or small businesses during this pandemic, and what we aim to do is upskill them, so they can pursue better job opportunities and help them start or restart their small businesses and allow them to participate in the economy’s growth post-pandemic,” SMC president Ramon S. Ang said.
Under a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA), TESDA facilitates skills training, makes available its training venues, conducts assessments, and issues certificates of competency to the beneficiary-trainees.
SMC, for its part, provides funds for training fees, assessment fees, and other expenses for trainees who do not qualify for TESDA scholarship. The company also covers transportation and food allowance for the duration of the training. SMC also hires qualified graduates whenever possible.
Courses offered by the SMC-TESDA program include heavy equipment operations, electrical installation and maintenance, shielded metal arc welding, dressmaking, beads and accessories making, fish processing, dessert-making, doormat and rugs making, entrepreneurship training, bread and pastry production, hollow block making, and meat processing.
A total of 922 individuals took up courses conducted at pilot sites in Bulacan, Sariaya in Quezon province, and General Santos City in South Cotabato.
The Bulacan graduates came from 277 families in Bulakan town who were relocated from Brgy. Taliptip, the site of SMC’s New Manila International Airport and Aerocity project. Apart from the training programs, the beneficiaries were earlier provided cash assistance to build their own homes. Some were also made part of SMC’s nationwide network of community resellers of its Purefoods and Magnolia frozen products.
Meanwhile, some 165 individuals residing in 14 coastal barangays in Bulacan became the first beneficiaries of SMC’s additional capital assistance initiative after attending a two-day entrepreneurship program which teaches business planning, marketing, bookkeeping, and networking.
“While the community reselling program is successful, we’ve also diversified the kinds of businesses that can be included in the program. Future beneficiaries can avail of additional cash capital for small businesses like eateries, rice stores, fish processing, as well as online businesses. Apart from capital, we also provided them entrepreneurship training. We also have mechanisms in place to monitor their progress and make sure they have the best chances to succeed,” Ang said.
Other beneficiaries of the SMC-TESDA program are some 302 families in Sariaya, Quezon, half of whom now reside in model sustainable housing in San Miguel-Christian-Gayeta Homes in Barangay Castanas. SMC is building a modern agro-industrial facility in Sariaya, which will feature a brewery, grains terminal, feedmill, a ready-to-eat food manufacturing plant, high-tech poultry facility, a fuel tank farm, and port facilities.
These major investments are expected to generate jobs and help boost the Philippines’ economic growth post-pandemic and for the long-term.
“As our economy starts opening up, there is an urgent need to help the poorest and most disadvantaged sectors get back on their feet. Many have lost their jobs or small businesses during this pandemic, and what we aim to do is upskill them, so they can pursue better job opportunities and help them start or restart their small businesses and allow them to participate in the economy’s growth post-pandemic,” SMC president Ramon S. Ang said.
Under a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA), TESDA facilitates skills training, makes available its training venues, conducts assessments, and issues certificates of competency to the beneficiary-trainees.
SMC, for its part, provides funds for training fees, assessment fees, and other expenses for trainees who do not qualify for TESDA scholarship. The company also covers transportation and food allowance for the duration of the training. SMC also hires qualified graduates whenever possible.
Courses offered by the SMC-TESDA program include heavy equipment operations, electrical installation and maintenance, shielded metal arc welding, dressmaking, beads and accessories making, fish processing, dessert-making, doormat and rugs making, entrepreneurship training, bread and pastry production, hollow block making, and meat processing.
A total of 922 individuals took up courses conducted at pilot sites in Bulacan, Sariaya in Quezon province, and General Santos City in South Cotabato.
The Bulacan graduates came from 277 families in Bulakan town who were relocated from Brgy. Taliptip, the site of SMC’s New Manila International Airport and Aerocity project. Apart from the training programs, the beneficiaries were earlier provided cash assistance to build their own homes. Some were also made part of SMC’s nationwide network of community resellers of its Purefoods and Magnolia frozen products.
Meanwhile, some 165 individuals residing in 14 coastal barangays in Bulacan became the first beneficiaries of SMC’s additional capital assistance initiative after attending a two-day entrepreneurship program which teaches business planning, marketing, bookkeeping, and networking.
“While the community reselling program is successful, we’ve also diversified the kinds of businesses that can be included in the program. Future beneficiaries can avail of additional cash capital for small businesses like eateries, rice stores, fish processing, as well as online businesses. Apart from capital, we also provided them entrepreneurship training. We also have mechanisms in place to monitor their progress and make sure they have the best chances to succeed,” Ang said.
Other beneficiaries of the SMC-TESDA program are some 302 families in Sariaya, Quezon, half of whom now reside in model sustainable housing in San Miguel-Christian-Gayeta Homes in Barangay Castanas. SMC is building a modern agro-industrial facility in Sariaya, which will feature a brewery, grains terminal, feedmill, a ready-to-eat food manufacturing plant, high-tech poultry facility, a fuel tank farm, and port facilities.
These major investments are expected to generate jobs and help boost the Philippines’ economic growth post-pandemic and for the long-term.
