Another example of a Strategic Giving project coordinated by AmCham in the past is a village business plan competition. In this project, we worked with an anonymous member to build a small resource center in the public library of a poor town by the lake. Prior to this project, this public library hadn’t received any new books since the collapse of the Soviet Union. We partnered with local American volunteers to identify this need, and then fill it by providing over 500 new books covering topics from business to computers to English language. We then held a business plan competition in which entrants were encouraged to use the new resource center to write their plans. We received over 30 entries from members of the community. The youngest participant was 16. The oldest was 73.

All entrants had a chance to “pitch their plans”               Entrepreneurs answered tough questions from the

to the audience                                                              judges 

  

$100 First prize winner on the right: Egg Farm                6 Runners up won Russian/English dictionaries

$50 Second prize winner: Pizza Parlor