Business grants benefit B40 families
ONE hundred and seven small business owners who are residents of five Projek Perumahan Rakyat (PPR) properties across Klang Valley received grants totalling RM468,037 through an entrepreneurship programme spearheaded by Taylor’s Education Group and CIMB Islamic Bank Berhad.
The cash aid under “Program Keusahawanan Taylor’s-CIMB Islamic” is aimed to empower families in the B40 group by improving their earning ability via up-skilling coaching and entrepreneurial training.
At the start of the programme, more than 120 attended a series of motivational and educational workshops. Participants who showed significant improvement in their businesses and operations were selected to present their business plans to a panel of judges from Taylor’s and CIMB Islamic Bank. Of these, 107 were chosen, based on the plausibility of their concepts and ideas.
“By boosting the entrepreneurial skills of these business owners, we aim to create a long-term and sustainable impact not only economically but also socially, and inspiring and giving courage to others to start their own businesses. This will eventually result in a virtuous cycle of viable businesses being created to continuously support the nation’s growth,” said CIMB Islamic Bank CEO Mohamed Rafe Haneef.
Given the success of the programme, Taylor’s and CIMB Islamic Bank plan to collaborate in the second phase, scheduled to run in 2019. Program Keusahawanan 2.0 will see the creation of Program Keusahawanan Universiti, Program Keusahawanan Marketplace and Program Keusahawanan Digital as platforms for entrepreneurs to continuously learn and discover business opportunities.
“We are very happy to see how the programme has grown and successfully uplifted the lives of many PPR residents. We are committed to continue organising the programme and I’m confident we will be able to see the creation of more successful entrepreneurs in the coming years,” said Taylor’s Education Group CEO Datuk Loy Teik Ngan.
Program Keusahawanan Taylor’sCIMB Islamic was initiated in 2017 where 13 small business owners from PPR Sri Pantai were awarded with grants totalling RM47,000. To date, 10 of the 13 enabled business owners have improved their business revenue by 30% since the completion of the programme.