SEED History

The Small Enterprise Education and Development program is the product of a collaborative effort among faculty, staff, and students at the Jon M. Huntsman School of business. This endeavor to create a micro-finance institution began in the fall of 2006 with a meeting that included Dave Hermann, Chris Fawson, and Liz Allred.

In the spring of 2007 Dave Hermann challenged his Management students raise money for their requisite project. With the involvement of the students and the community, the projects were a complete success. The first semester the classes raised $32,000. The University partnered up with DanPer in Trujillo, Peru to complete the project. DanPer is a company whose product line includes: asparagus, mangos, peppers, and canned papaya. They were selected because they are a native company that has a social responsibility element to their business. Part of the agreement we have with DanPer, is that only those who are associated with the company are eligible for funding. This has become beneficial because DanPer can apply pressure to make sure the loans are paid back.

In conjunction with DanPer, the non-governmental organization named Sembrando Futuro (Sowing the Future) was formed. It was officially given tax exempt status in December of 2007. This is important to understand since it obtained this status 6 months after funding was promised. It is also indicative of how arduous the legalization process in Peru can be. Responsibilities have been divided between the two organizations, and AMA (Asociación de Mujeres en Acción) was brought in to teach the introductory business classes. DanPer was charged with finding and qualifying Peruvians who would be eligible to receive instruction and funding of their businesses.

In the summer of 2007, students participating in the Business college study abroad in South America visited with the groups to further qualify them for loans. This took place in Huancaquito Bajo, Peru. At the end of the business plan analysis, a vote took place and three of the four groups were given the promise of funding. Not long after this, the program encountered some complications with legalizing the businesses and sending the funding to Sembrando Futuro. It took almost a year to overcome those complications. During this process input came in from all sides and the program was adapted so that the same mistakes would not be made in the future. Through these changes our micro-lending program became the Small Enterprise Education and Development program.

In the summer of 2008, interns (Heather Fawson and Grant Keaton) were sent from the university to fulfill its fiduciary responsibilities. During this time the interns dedicated themselves to assessing the needs of the program and forming plans to restructure the process. They also detailed the business plan requirements to help stream line the process for future groups. They came home just as funding for the original three groups was released. In addition to that, another presentation was made in the community of Alto Salaverry to bring in new groups to work with.

In January of 2009 interns spent a semester in Peru teaching the business training course designed by USU students and faculty. Several new groups graduated from the course with business plans which will be used as applications for funding to start their business.

To date all funding for this program has been student-raised with the help of Dave Hermann who now serves as the Director of the SEED program. The three business groups from Huancaquito Bajo that were eligible for funding have been receiving continued support and have started operating their businesses.