BGI Final Report - Economic Growth - usaid

address the World Bank’s Doing Business index, in an attempt to encourage smaller enterprisesto formalize and grow. USAID/Egypt’s Economic Competitiveness project, however, is engaginggrowth entrepreneurs as catalysts of economic growth and job creation. 1Farming as business enterprises also gained currency and will likely remain quite relevant givenUSAID’s explicit priority given to food security, e.g., 2011-2015 Policy Framework, and theagricultural sector’s prevalence in many developing countries. Moreover, USAID has nowsignificant understanding of the needs of enterprises in conflict-affected and post-conflictsituations. 2 Many of these approaches, however, have yet to be incorporated in post-conflictand disaster recovery programs.D: Outreach and CommunicationThe BGI website or knowledge management portal was the primary medium for projectoutreach and communication. Established in Year 1, the portal contained more than 60 pages ofcontent and served as an information clearinghouse for enterprise related events, publicationsand news. After implementing a more comprehensive outreach and communications strategy inYear 2, the demand for BGI products and services increased. Activities included writing anddistributing the BGI quarterly newsletter, actively networking with USAID personnel and othereconomic growth (EG) project implementers and establishing relationships with universities andother institutions. The strategy focused on BGI’s primary audience and used approaches toattract attention and promote services. The quarterly newsletter included input from otherUSAID projects. BGI also solicited submissions of project best practices and published them.Those who had worked with BGI in Year 1 were asked to be project references.The strategy increased awareness of BGI products and services while supporting the project’soverall knowledge management mandate. By targeting organizations, projects and Missions,BGI was able to identify collaborative opportunities with the Heritage Foundation, engage newuniversity partners with USAID, e.g., Babson College, and strengthen partnerships with otheruniversities, e.g., University of Maryland.By 2011, BGI benefited from a robust mailing list of 3,000 active entries and cemented itsfoundation as a center of information on enterprise development. Unsolicited requests forinformation and participation and linkages to new reports and research corroborate BGI’ssuccess.E: Project Management and OperationsThe prime contractor developed a flexible and responsive project management system to meetBGI’s objectives and respond to project audience and stakeholders. BGI’s key personnelincluded a project manager and lead technical advisor; BGI contractors and their employeesand consultants that implemented BGI activities through work assignments. BGI contractingpartners, stakeholders and counterparts, including Missions and bureaus, collaboratively1 Growth and necessity entrepreneurs are distinguished by their motivations for starting their business noby size. Growth (or opportunity) entrepreneurs are those who seek and exploit opportunities. Necessityentrepreneurs generally would prefer to be otherwise employed, e.g., in a larger enterprise or publicsector. While it is uncommon to find a necessity entrepreneur managing an enterprise of substantialscale, growth entrepreneurs frequently do so.2 Gerstle, Tracy, Tim Nourse, et. al. Market Development During and Post-Conflict: Emerging Lessons forPro-Poor Economic Reconstruction. USAID Office of Microenterprise Development: Washington, D.C.,2007.4