CEED Macedonia is the official Cisco Entrepreneur Institute Training Center for Macedonia. Our activities in the past period were mainly focused on building the network of Local Institutes and preparations for starting with delivery of the first Starting a Business and iExac Enterprises Essential courses.

In September 2008, CEED Macedonia and YES Incubator, the first Local Institute, in cooperation with the Municipality of Gazi Baba, have started a joint project for training of the unemployed people from Gazi Baba in business and entrepreneurial skills. The project is co-financed by the USAID Macedonian Local Governance Activity Project.

The objectives of the project are: to enable the participants to expand their business knowledge, to foster the entrepreneurial spirit and help in reducing the unemployment in the municipality.  The project activities include localization and translation into Macedonian language of the content of the Starting a Business course and delivery of training for 60 young and unemployed people, divided in four groups of 15 participants. After finishing this course, the participants will be able to prepare a successful business plan and to start and effectively operate a business. Three best prepared business plans shall be awarded with prize in amount of 1,000 USD each.

The feedback received from the first group which started with the training in November 2008 is positive. One of the participants said: “I think that this course is very practical and useful for young entrepreneurs and I want to thank USAID for supporting the project. For me, most interesting are the modules for financial management and preparation of the business plans. I would recommend this course to anyone who wants to learn how to start a new business.”

The course delivery for the first group shall be finalized by the end of December 2008. The training sessions in Starting a Business for the second group will start in January 2009. For more details on the course content and enrollment, please contact us at: CEED Macedonia, +389 2 3079 611 and YES Incubator, + 389 2 3103 660.

What is the Cisco Entrepreneur Institute?

Over the past 20 years, Cisco has used technology to advance its own business, becoming one of the world’s leading companies. Cisco’s vision is to offer the lessons learned from its own experience, combine business-relevant knowledge from the world’s leading business and learning resources, and connect it with people, information and the leadership of the local organization. Trough the Entrepreneur Institute’s business workshops, mentoring networks and technology resources, the participants gain both academic knowledge and expertise that is highly relevant for doing business in particular country.

How the Cisco Entrepreneur Institute Works?

Cisco has created a series of workshops made up of media-rich, business-relevant content from a variety of preeminent sources, including Stanford University, Cornell University and My Own Business, Inc. Its current offerings cover starting, growing and tech-enabling a business, and they are enhanced by the experience of local successful entrepreneurs and facilitators.

Cisco delivers these workshops trough a network of training centers and local institutes that host live meetings. If participants cannot attend in person, they can attend remotely, over an open-source, web-and media-enabled platform.