Fit4Entrepreneurship, an initiative to help jobseekers create their own businesses was launched yesterday by the Chamber of Commerce and ADEM.
This is the second run for the initiative, which was first launched two years ago. The programme, aimed at promoting the national objective of promoting entrepreneurship, has already helped 37 jobseekers to set up their own businesses in sectors such as hospitality, trade or craft industries, with 24 additional projects in the works.
Speaking at the House of Entrepreneurship yesterday, Carlo Thelen, director general of the Chamber of Commerce, underlined the central role of small to medium enterprises to Luxembourg’s economy, and of Fit4Entrepreneurship to the projects that the Chamber of Commerce is coordinating with the ADEM.
"SMEs are an essential source of employment and play a decisive role in economic growth. It should be noted that the percentage of new entrepreneurs has increased slightly in 2015. It is therefore natural for the Chamber of Commerce to design and support initiatives such as Fit4Entrepreneurship and to give priority to the implementation of a policy environment and regulatory framework conducive to business creation,” he said.
So far, 10 people have been hired as employees by the companies already created within the framework of Fit4Entrepreneurship. In addition, 48 jobseekers decided to suspend their entrepreneurial project and successfully reoriented towards paid employment.
Isabelle Schlesser, director of ADEM, welcomed this first encouraging report and stressed that the results are based on the common effort of all the parties involved, and that the project has become a “best practice” for inter-institutional cooperation.
"The strategic axes of the ADEM reform are, on the one hand, to personalise the services offered to jobseekers according to their needs and, On the other hand, to move closer to the economic world in order to facilitate contacts between jobseekers and businesses,” she said.
“Although there was already financial support to support the creation of companies by jobseekers, it was not associated with any system of coaching or coaching for the persons concerned. We therefore wanted to set up an accompaniment and training program with "natural" partners, in this case the Chamber of Commerce and the Chamber of Crafts, and in parallel we have created a new service in ADEM to ensure awareness of entrepreneurship and to propose competency assessments to ensure that candidates who do not have an adequate profile can not be directed towards starting a business.”
For the next round of Fit4Entrepreneurship, more coaching hours will be introduced, as well as more post-creation support and thematic workshops organised in parallel.
Image: Luc Henzig, Chambre of Commerce, Izabela Wojcicka, tea room Autrefois, Carlo Thelen, Chambre of Commerce, Isabelle Schlesser, ADEM, Lionel Chaudier, Immo-Dépannages
