Entrepreneurship
Theme: Entrepreneurship
Cross-cutting themes covered: Tailored business support
Name of project: Empowering Immigrant Workers
City: Milan (The project also operated in Brescia, Lecco and Cremona)
What is it? Through this project, a variety of training courses have been set up to promote entrepreneurship among immigrants from low or lower-middle income countries (as defined by the World Bank).
Who is it? The project was delivered by several agencies, including:
Where is it? The project operated in Milan, Brescia, Lecco and Cremona, targeting businesses owned by immigrants from low or lower-middle income countries (as defined by the World Bank). Of the 725,683 businesses in Lombardy, only 3% (21,825) belong to this group.
Who funds it? The project was financed by the EU EQUAL Initiative, through the ‘Adaptability – Life Long Learning’ theme. The budget for the training and research described in this case study was €200,000.
How does it work? Identifying needs: As a first stage in the Empowering Immigrant Workers project, a study was conducted into the barriers to enterprise faced by immigrants in Milan and in the Lombardy Region. This involved qualitative interviews with ethnic minority entrepreneurs, and a quantitative analysis of data from Chamber of Commerce archives to build up a profile of immigrant enterprises in the region.
This research provided a sound basis on which to develop interventions to tackle the barriers to enterprise faced by the target group in question. In addition, the research process worked to raise awareness of the project among the immigrant enterprise community, training organisations, local experts and public representatives. For example, as a result of the project, a designated member of staff within the chamber of commerce is now tasked specifically with collecting data on immigrant entrepreneurs, and directing entrepreneurs to relevant business support training.
Tailored business support: Following the research phase, the project provided free training and information for immigrant entrepreneurs on issues such as business management and planning, and access to finance. Training courses were tailored to the specific needs of immigrant entrepreneurs, as identified in the research. For example, courses offered information on Italian economy, society and culture, and how to enter into relationships with suppliers, customers and banks.
Engaging entrepreneurs onto the training scheme was one of the most difficult elements of the project. The project was marketed in newspapers and by mail. Interviews were held with applicants to select the most ‘motivated’ candidates, who were deemed most likely to benefit from the service.
Training was delivered by Formaper, an agency of the Milan Chamber of Commerce, tasked with promoting an entrepreneurial culture in the city. Formaper is well-placed to deliver expert business support to Milan’s entrepreneurs; the Chamber has 315,000 different firms on its books, many of which Formaper has helped to start up and grow.
One major disadvantage of the project was its short time scale (two years) – this was not sufficient time to fully develop the training element of the initiative. However, based on lessons learned during the project, and through ongoing networking between agencies, a new project has been set up to provide continued support to immigrant entrepreneurs in the region.
Anything else? Networking opportunities: Importantly, the project also offered an arena for entrepreneurs to network with each other. Training courses were delivered to ethnically-mixed groups, to promote interaction among different cultures. Indeed, as a result of the project a networking association, involving the municipality, the Chamber of Commerce, universities and immigrant entrepreneurs, was set up.
Is the model transferable ? Intensive social research to assess immigrant entrepreneurs’ needs is essential and transferable. It ensures services developed are based on a robust demand-side analysis.
The sort of training offered to entrepreneurs through the project is broadly replicable. However, there may be some challenges in finding an appropriate training agency with experience of offering business advice to entrepreneurs, sound knowledge of the local economy and the capacity to develop and adapt their provision to the target group in question. Ensuring that the courses are free of charge to immigrants is also important, and transferable given adequate financial resources.
Building on local competitive advantages? Setting up networking organisations depends very much on local context, on the profile of an area’s immigrant business community, on the capacity of local government organisations, and on engaging good representatives from the immigrant population. Moreover, it can be difficult to manage networking associations where different cultures and organisations co-exist, with different aims, objectives and priorities.
What are the barriers to transferability? Barriers to effective transfer and replication of the research phase relate to the financial resources and time constraints of the project developers.
