Benny, Bierka and Francisco are three of the hundreds of young people who wake up every day with the task of feeding the hunger for knowledge and turning it into the main tool for their own progress and that of their loved ones.
Precisely to impact the lives of these students and many others, the National Institute of Professional Technical Training (Infotep), Distributor Corripio (DC) and the National Council for the Promotion and Support of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (Promipyme)carried out this Friday the formal launch of the “Plan for the Development of Entrepreneurs”.
The public-private initiative, also baptized with the motto “Learn and undertake”, seeks that Infotep graduates or students in areas such as refrigeration, electricity, electromechanics and others, can start and formalize their own businesses, explained Manuel Corripio, president of the Corripio Group.
“This is a joint effort… what this event aims to do is give young people the opportunity not only to integrate as formal employees within a company, but also, in the same way, we are preparing them to have their own businesses. ”, he stated.
Likewise, the businessman stressed that they prioritize the correct transition for the participants of “academic preparation, later work experience and then, finally, the development of their own businesses, which I understand should be the objective of all young people who work.”
“A life-changing opportunity”
The project will start with more than a dozen young people with a pilot plan in Santo Domingo and for some of them this will be a way to change their lives.
For Francisco Wazav, an electricity student, this is “one of the few opportunities one could find in life.”
“It is extremely important since they are taking us through the proper process of growth, step by step,” said the 25-year-old enrolled in the electrical technician, and who usually sleeps only four hours to pursue his goals.
Bierka Castillo stressed that “it is a unique opportunity” of those that appear bald “and you have to grab them by the hair.”
The 24-year-old, one of the few women who are trained in electronics at Infotep, stressed that although most of her colleagues are men, she feels comfortable doing what she likes.
“That does not mean (referring to the large male enrollment) that we women cannot provide support in electronic equipment, on the contrary, just like any man we can acquire any type of knowledge and practice it,” she said.
Meanwhile, Benny Figaro, also an electronics student, said that this is “an opportunity that changes life” and that now it also becomes a commitment to push others.
“Just as these doors are opening for us, for us to be able to undertake tomorrow, we can also employ people so that we can help the country in terms of crime and so many young people on the street that there are not even for breakfast,” argued the 20-year-old native of Villa Mella.
Investments for business
To start up the businesses, the young people will have credits for the equipment and tools of each technician, amounting to between RD$200,000 and RD$375,000.
“It is not money that they receive directly, but it is going to be delivered in equipment so that they can be successful in developing their own businesses,” said Manuel Corripio, while Porfirio Peralta, director of Promipyme, an entity that will contribute credits, said that the institution is “openly willing” for financing.
On his side, Rafael Santos Badía, general director of Infotep, explained that those who meet the technical preparation requirements and are selected will enter the program as interns for three months with field work and will receive a fixed remuneration, at the time of They will receive 80-hour training in entrepreneurship.
“They are already technicians, now what we are going to do is develop entrepreneurship skills so that they learn to manage business,” he emphasized.
Also present at the event were Maira Morla, deputy director of Infotep; Juan Matos, director of the Metropolitan Region; and part of the institution’s management team. While for Distribuidora Corripio were John Monroy, Lorenzo García, Nikauly Martínez, Lorenzo Lantigua, Mayra Cruz, Vilgady Paulino, Osvaldo Rosario, Isis Abreu.