An alliance between the National Bank and the Technological Institute of Costa Rica (TEC), through the TEC Emprende Lab, will allow supporting the SMEs affected by the COVID-19 crisis through consultations with TEC experts as well as advisers hired by the National Bank, this thanks to the initiative called Pyme LAB.
The TEC Emprende Lab is a meeting and experimentation space that TEC has created to promote entrepreneurial culture through business training. It also develops incubation processes to generate companies with special emphasis on science and technology.
For its part, Pyme LAB will be a space formed by a group of 50 experts from different areas belonging to TEC, who have joined and committed in collaborating for free, through consultancies as well as talks on engineering issues, business and tourism, this in order to strengthen decision-making of SMEs, in addition to promoting economic recovery.
The consultancies are varied and are directed towards areas such as: business administration (marketing, finance, business and digital strategy), production, logistics and product quality as well as processes, occupational health, audiovisual design and production, hazardous substances, energy and chemistry. , construction, tourism and agribusiness projects.
“The National Bank and TEC, as leading institutions, have worked as allies in the business and entrepreneurship sector for many years and in this complex situation that our country is experiencing, we have shared the need and commitment to support SMEs from our strengths This is how this initiative arose so that businessmen who are in search of solutions, who have had to reinvent themselves and overcome many challenges, can have a space with a specialized professional to guide and solve queries.
“We believe that Pyme LAB can be the beginning of a great movement where more professionals contribute their time, knowledge and experience, together making it possible for small companies to succeed after this crisis,” said Víctor Acosta, Director of the Micro and Small Business Segment of the National Bank.
While for Juan Carlos Leiva, a.i coordinator of the TEC Emprende Lab, “this type of alliance is very important because it allows us to join forces and support one of the sectors hardest hit by the crisis, such as SMEs. But we also believe that in the economic recovery, SMEs and entrepreneurs will be essential.
“That is why we are pleased to establish this alliance with a prestigious entity such as Banco Nacional. Our goal is that our professors can work collaboratively with companies to rethink or adjust their business models, their marketing efforts, their operations and other of the many topics that we will be able to offer for SMEs. Furthermore, at TEC Emprende Lab we are pleased to be a bridge of contact between our professors willing to collaborate and SMEs that need this type of support,” added Leiva.
How to take part?
The participating SMEs will have the benefit of having access to technical and business advice provided by experts in the engineering and business areas of TEC, in addition to advisers hired by the National Bank. In turn, they can participate in four sessions of 45 minutes each that will be taught weekly and will receive invitations to webinars with different topics of interest to the company.
In order to participate in Pyme LAB it is necessary to meet the following requirements:
- Being a micro or small company with more than a year in operation.
- The participating company is committed to allocate at least one hour a week for a month to receive advice and fulfill the assigned tasks.
- The schedule will preferably be established between the parties at convenience, but in the absence of a mutual agreement, the schedule designated by the advisor will prevail.
Interested persons require completing the respective form with all the information. It can be found on the TEC Emprende LAB website: www.tec.ac.cr/tec-emprende-lab or at www.soypymefan.com at the tools section.
