KNN soon to become a foundation

Organizers say move to institutionalize entrepreneurship programs, win more partners

After eight years of helping out individuals set up micro and small enterprises, the USC-Kapamilya Negosyo Na (KNN) program of the University of San Carlos College of Commerce Alumni Association (COCAAI) and ABS-CBN will be made into a foundation to help institutionalize their programs.

Carmelita Piramide, KNN chairperson, and Devin Go, USC-KNN Credit Cooperative head, said they are still working on the papers and coming up with the initial fund of P1 million as required by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

“We recently set up the cooperative, which is our way of extending help to our winners as the cooperative can generate income and allow them to apply for loans for their businesses,” Go said.

Piramide said by becoming a foundation, their programs could be institutionalized resulting in more partners for their programs which are focused on encouraging entrepreneurship among Cebuanos.

For the past years since they have been operating and assisting start-up businesses, USC-KNN has been  funded by the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) which in turn they use as fund assistance for the winning business proposals.

“We have availed of almost P2 million from DOLE and aside from that we get volunteer businessmen to help us train our start-up entrepreneurs, teaching them critical skills in managing and eventually growing their businesses,” Piramide said.

For the past eight years, USC-KNN has assisted about 200 start-up businesses, with at least half of them still active in their businesses today.

“Most of the start-ups we have are those engaged in food because this is the easiest business to start. We also have other businesses like detergent products which have grown and now have partners in major retail chains,” Go said.

Go and Piramide said they were happy at seeing a handful of their start-ups starting to penetrate the retail chain networks in Cebu and they hoped that these start-ups could expand further in the country.

One example is Normal Saluntao with his detergent products who now has a marketing partner  in 360 Pharmacy, a fast growing convenience store chain in Cebu.

“Raul and Margaret Figueroa, who started with banana chips, now have displays in major retail chains here in Cebu. We are proud of these developments and we would like to assist more entrepreneurs because it’s a key to economic development in the country,” Piramide said.

Through the newly setup cooperative and soon to be established foundation, both Go and Piramide are hoping to achieve more for the USC-KNN program.

“We recently awarded the Season 8 winners and we are now screening for the Season 9 winners for March next year,” Go said./Reporter Aileen Garcia-Yap