C a s e S t u d y

Training modules for the Razgrad center for economic development

Summary

The establishment of the Razgrad Center for Economic Development (CED) was a major result of the partnership between Razgrad and Brunswick, Ohio, during Phase II of the Bulgarian Technical Twinning Program. CED's continued institutional development and growth was to a great extent tied to the joint efforts of the two cities.

To play a key role in local economic development and to expand the range of its services, CED needs specific training tools. The training of trainers is also critical to the success of such tools. As a result, we decided to develop modules that the experts cooperating with CED could use for training purposes. Eight modules were proposed initially; another one was added later. Our partners from Brunswick devoted significant time and effort to developing detailed manuals for trainers, and Bulgarian experts also developed some of the modules.

Problem Statement

The municipality of Razgrad has a significant number of available workers. At the same time, there are many entrepreneurs and representatives of larger companies working in Razgrad. A common need of both groups is to acquire knowledge on specific topics. The partners recog nized this as a good opportunity for CED to meet a need.

Project Description

Upon conducting a comprehensive needs analysis of the situation, the partners unanimously adopted the following eight topics for training modules:

n Strategic planning

n Marketing

n Municipal marketing

n English

n Training of trainers

n Tourism development

n Economic demography

n Business incubator development and operation.

Experts from Brunswick and Razgrad were involved in the development of the above mod ules. (Another module on municipal budgeting was added later.) For the tourism develop ment module, the city of Brunswick got specialists from local organizations involved: Dee Grossman Tasker, Executive Director, Tuscarawas County Convention and Visitors Bureau, and Mr. Daniel Hostetler and Ms. Susanne Kirchhuebel, Students/Interns, University of Applied Sciences, Straslund, Germany. Strategic planning and organizational development consultant Martin Jenkins was actively involved in the development of the strategic planning module.

We trained trainers in marketing and municipal marketing. Mr. Robert Trimble, a Peace Corps Volunteer in Razgrad and son of Brunswick's city manager Skip Trimble, was critical to the development of the English language module. Not only did he develop the module, but he also facilitated the training. CED and the municipality of Razgrad provided experts to work on the rest of the modules.

The purpose of the project was to build the capacity of CED staff to provide training to clients on the above topics. This capacity building has both expanded the range of services offered by CED and created revenue generation opportunities for the Center.

Implementation Timeline

The action plan for the project incorporated the following schedule:

n October-November 2000: Form the development team

n December 2000-January 2001: Adopt proposals for training modules

n February-October 2001: Develop modules

n November 2001-February 2002: Train trainers.

The schedule was mostly observed, except that an extension of the project was granted for development of the last three modules.

Solutions Overview and Specific Results

The training modules marked another step in CED's development. Thanks to the modules, the organization can now report its first training achievements. The results are especially positive and encouraging.

In January, CED initiated a six-month English language course, which is still ongoing. Only four individuals signed up for the course; however, the trainees consider the course very useful, which gives us hope for expanding this module in the future.

CED also offered a successful training course in municipal budgeting. The training on May 8, 2002, was for the finance staff of all municipalities within the Razgrad region. A total of 12 individuals completed the training. Due to the great interest generated by the training, we decided to repeat it, this time for 8 municipal employees from Bourgas. As of mid-May, the total number of people trained is 24. Mrs. Stanka Anguelova from the Bulgarian team, in addition to her involvement in the development of two modules, also facilitated the training on municipal budgeting.

Benefits

The development of the training modules has produced several benefits for Razgrad:

n Increased capacity of CED and CED staff

n Expanded range of services offered by CED

n Opportunities to generate additional revenues and provide for CED's operational sustainability.

Conclusion

The possession of such powerful tools as the training modules has boosted CED's activities and provided opportunities for future development based on an existing body of knowledge and skills. By offering such training, CED is targeting a market niche with great potential. The Razgrad and Brunswick teams are proud of their work on this project and believe that the train ing modules will generate interest on behalf of businesses and NGOs as well as municipalities.