Successful Young Entrepreneurs Program Beneficiary Organizes Corporate Social Responsibility Project

February 14, 2014

Two years ago the American University of Armenia’s Turpanjian Rural Development Program (TRDP) launched the Young Entrepreneurs Program (YEP) to encourage innovation and entrepreneurship among youth in rural areas. During this period, with the support and guidance of the TRDP, young entrepreneurs established businesses in all four regions served by the Program.

One of these young entrepreneurs was Artyom Sargsyan. He first heard about the TRDP while a graduate student at the State Engineering University of Armenia in Gyumri, where he was studying business economics and management. Together with two other classmates, he decided to apply to TRDP to expand his small beekeeping business.

After participating in the TRDP training, he acquired all the practical skills needed to organize and develop his business. With the support of TRDP team promotional marketing, Mr. Artyom Sargsyan acquired a new market share of the honey business in the Shirak region.

Mr. Sargsyan also decided to set aside a portion of his annual honey production to be donated to poor families with many children. He acquired a list of the poorest families in the region from the local church and asked the TRDP team to help him organize a small Corporate Social Responsibility project to distribute honey to these families. Mr. Sargsyan believes that all businesses should cultivate social responsibility, to share a portion of business profits with families in need.