The TenarisTuboCaribe Foundation recently introduced an initiative designed to provide business management training to 120 families from the Nelson Mandela neighborhood, located near Tenaris’s mill in Cartagena. Known as “Impulsa Mandela”, the program will focus on management practices and the use of social media to promote products and services, encouraging the development of small businesses in the area.
Roberto Varela, Executive Director of the TenarisTuboCaribe Foundation, said that although the Foundation's focus is to strengthen the quality of education for children and teenagers, it is also important for them to have a strong support system at home. "To accomplish this, it is key that our community members support each other, that small businesses grow and have an effect on more neighbors," he said.
More than 1,100 people signed up for the project and 120 families were selected to participate. They will receive a five-week certification course taught by teachers from the Technological University of Bolívar.
Madeleine Galofre, one of the participants, said, “I enrolled expecting to learn tools that will help me improve and boost my business – a small store that I opened six months ago when I was unemployed. I aspire to turn it into a larger business, not just a temporary job.”
At the end of the program, participants will present their business ideas in a “shark tank” setting, where they will compete before a specialized panel. The winners will receive a set of materials to help strengthen their business.
Through the Tenaris TuboCaribe Foundation, Tenaris is contributing to social and economic development of the communities in which it operates by executing primary and technical education projects, as well as activities that promote sports, culture and recreation.
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