Idea for a better tomorrow
Your ideas is the basis for everything and create your own way towards the success!
On Monday, November 20th, representatives of UniCredit Foundation, UniCredit Bank, Foundation Ana and Vlade Divac and Smart Kolektiv presented the winners of third edition of competition “Idea for better tomorrow” which aims to contribute to development of social entrepreneurship, as well as finding ideas for products and services which can improve image of Serbia in the region and abroad. In period from June 6th till July 18th 2017, over 130 ideas were registered. During the second phase the commission selected 15 finalists which suggested best ideas and with who the experts worked on development of business plans. After the creation and evaluation of business plans, expert commission, based on innovation of ideas and sustainability of projects, selected the winning ones. Seven best finalists were chosen for grants in overall amount of EUR 40,000.
The Commission unanimously decided to allocate the grants totally worth EUR 35,000 to the following finalists: Initiative for social empowerment, Citizens' Association for the fight against human trafficking and all forms of violence against women Atina, Citizen association Vunena, Association for Support of People with Developmental Disabilities Naša kuća, Association for Support of Persons with Psychophysical Disorders ZaJedno, Social agricultural cooperation Nova perspektiva and Citizen association Liceulice. In addition, employees of UniCredit Bank were also involved in the voting process and they have selected two winners who are granted with additional EUR 2,500 each, Naša kuća and Atina.
Representatives of Foundation Ana and Vlade Divac, UniCredit Foundation and UniCredit Bank presented the winners of the competition ‘Idea for a Better Tomorrow’. The goal of the competition was identifying the ideas for products or services which can contribute in the best way to the improvement of Serbia’s image in the region and abroad, and at the same time influence the improvement of country’s export potential. In the period from November 7th until December 26th social companies, small cooperatives, companies employing marginalized and vulnerable groups and individuals, as well as families and individuals, applied with 230 ideas. In basis of the innovative aspect of the these ideas and sustainability of the project, 9 best candidates were chosen which were awarded with grants in the overall amount of EUR 56,000. This project is supported by Serbia Investment and Export Promotion Agency (SIEPA) and Tourism Organization of Serbia (TOS).
The jury has chosen 7 candidates with the best ideas, three from the category of legal entities and four from the category of individuals/families, while UniCredit Bank employees, who were also involved in the voting process, have chosen one winner from both categories. In the category of legal entities awards went to „Strawberry Energy“ for the production of Strawberry mini SOS device, to „Serbian Film Association“ for the development of data base of movie locations in Serbia, to Studio „Štap&kanap“ for the production of jam made of chili peppers, as well as to Association „Old crafts for a new age“ for the adaptation of souvenir shop in Prijepolje. When talking about individuals and families grants were awarded to Miloš Erceg for Kapris goat cheeses, to Mirjana Luković for organic production of raspberries, to Nikola Ninkov for the production of cold-pressed sunflower and soybean oil, to Slađana Pajović for the foundation of social enterprise for production, promotion and sale of typical Serbian handicrafts, as well as to Slavica Vračarić for the production of healthy food, characteristic for Kremna area. Legal entities were awarded with the overall amount of EUR 34,000, while individuals and families received EUR 22,000.
Project „Idea for a Better Tomorrow“ is organized in several phases, while its expected duration is 10 months. In the first phase, which lasted from November 7th until December 26th, the defined categories applied with their ideas which, according to their opinion, could promote Serbia abroad in the best way. After the expiry of the application period, jury has chosen 39 best ideas from the categories of legal entities and individuals/families. In the second phase, experts worked with 39 selected candidates on the development of business plan. Afterwards, the jury has chosen the winners. In order to ensure successful implementation of the ideas, in the next phase, the monitoring of winning projects will be conducted.
More about competition’s winners learn above.
The second edition of the project, which aimed at contributing to the development of social entrepreneurship and existing business in Serbia, was conducted by Ana and Vlade Divac Foundation, UniCredit Foundation and UniCredit Bank, in cooperation with Smart Kolektiv and National Tourism Organization of Serbia. For grants, which should provide business improvement and implementation of new ideas, were able to apply social enterprises, companies that earn income producing and selling goods and services that have a social purpose as the main activities, companies that reinvest part of the profits to achieve its social objective, small cooperatives, citizens' associations, limited liability companies, handicraft workshops and others. The jury selected 7 ideas for products and services that can best contribute to improving the image of Serbia in the region and abroad, which are awarded with grants in total amount of EUR 45,000.
During the second phase of the competition, expert committee selected 20 finalists who had the opportunity to collaborate with experts in order to create the best business plans and thus be eligible to receive grants. After preparation and evaluation of business plans, expert committee on the basis of innovation and sustainability of proposed ideas, has chosen six winning projects with the best ideas, while more than 200 employees of our bank chose seventh winner, the Association of Social Cooperatives homemade "Bosiljak" which allocated funds for the development of cultural and artistic creativity, promotion of handicrafts which have territorial and ethical forms and creating brand of Cacak region. "Daj-Daj" has received funds for implementation of the new business model that will allow them to create a social cooperative and thus further employ at least three women from socially vulnerable groups. The idea of the "Optimist" is aimed at the economic empowerment of the municipality of Bosilegrad and southern Serbia through the growth of social enterprises that will be involved in production, processing, purchase and sale of fruit and fruit products, vegetables and mushrooms, while the Association for Support to Persons with Developmental Disabilities "Nasa kuca" launched the sweet line and thus improve service of Kitchens on wheels. SZR "Sofi" allocated funds for the improvement and expansion of product range, production of natural creams, while the carpentry shop "Sumarko" used the grant for the purchase of woodworking machines, which increased the volume and efficiency of production of toys for children, reduce the time and cost of production, and thus the price of the final product. At the end, Citizens' Association for the fight against human trafficking and all forms of violence against women "Atina" has received funds for expansion of the entire range of products, improvement of marketing strategy, organization of a large number of sales events, an increase in the paid labor force.
Further information in regards to business development of winners you may find bellow:
