UP ISSI recently conducted the Small Business Counselors Course (SBCC) anew for the Department of Trade and Industry – Region IX (DTI-9) this time under a strategic marketing module. SBCC 103 was conducted in Garden Orchid Hotel in Zamboanga City from 30 January to 3 February 2017 and participated in by 30 participants from Zamboanga del Norte, Zamboanga del Sur, Zamboanga Sibugay, and Zamboanga City.
One participant from Zamboanga City, Roxane S. Quiambao, expressed her appreciation of the new module of the SBCC: “I really like this course, SBCC 103, because we’ve completely learned the fundamentals of the marketing aspect. Although we’ve also learned much from SBCC 101 and 102, those covered broad topics. But with SBCC 103, we have zeroed in on marketing, and we all know that marketing is the heart of every business. I’ve been teaching marketing in a university but there are plenty of things I only encountered now, like the tools [and] marketing analytics. Indeed, [SBCC 103] offered an in-depth approach to marketing.”
She also shared her observation with fellow small business counselors: “We’ve improved as far as our presentations are concerned,” she said; “our learnings from SBCC 103 have fully equipped us such that we are now more than ready to accept and assist our clients.”
Another participant from Zamboanga Sibugay, Dr. Don Patrick M. Dalid, added: “First, our thanks to the [UP ISSI] program management team. For us Mindanaoans, when we are affiliated with the country’s prime university, we feel like we are privileged, elite, and special. It feels like we are now UP alumna.”
To further inspire the participants, Dr. Dalid said, “To my fellow DTI employees, up to this very hour, I feel in my very veins that DTI is still the agency of choice, and I’m sure you would agree with that. Ten to fifteen years from now, we will now evolve as future leaders of DTI.”
To live up to its reputation as “the agency of choice”, DTI-9 will continue with the next modules of SBCC.
The author is the head of the Training and Entrepreneurship Education Division of UP ISSI and the program manager of SBCC 103.