Small Business Skills Workshops and Internship Program (PCPP)

This RICDOG project, funded through the US Peace Corps Partnership Program (PCPP) is an entrepreneurship and small business skills training course and internship program for Georgian youth. The proposed project has two stages:

 

In the first stage, RICDOG will hold a series of job and business skills workshops for youth interested in a future in business & entrepreneurship. The workshops will focus on various broadly applicable skills needed to excel in the entrepreneurial and small business workplace, such as professionalism, money management, goal setting, business planning, etc.

In the second stage of the project, each of the participants will be assigned to two-month internships at local small/medium-sized businesses.  The local businesses will create specific job plans for their interns related to successfully managing small businesses, will supervise them, and will provide feedback to the participants and to RICDOG about their development and performance.

The combination of technical trainings with an internship will allow the participants to not only gain theoretical knowledge, but to also put their new knowledge into practice in the real world.

 

RICDOG and its partner, the US Peace Corps, believe that establishing more successful small businesses and a greater culture of entrepreneurship in Georgia is critical to driving the nation’s economic development.

The program focuses on building these skills among youth, with the goal of increasing the employability skills of the Georgian citizenry.  Greater employability skills lead to better, more sustainable employment, and greater employment leads to a healthier economic climate for all businesses.

They will welcome the program participant (intern) to their business and serve as a “mentor” for him/her for the duration of the internship.

The intern should work directly with the manager(s), department head(s), and/or business owners so that they learn as much as possible about how to run a small business.

Together with RICDOG, each employer will create a “work plan” for its intern(s).  The work plan should contain:

The number of hours per week the intern will work (minimum of 12)

The specific job(s) that the intern will do.

Identified counterpart(s) for the intern, with whom he/she will work closely during the internship

The intern, employer, and RICDOG will check in weekly with each other to monitor progress.

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