Improving Economies for Stronger Communities (IESC)
2000 M Street NW
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Washington, DC 20036
Tel: 202-589-2600
Email: iesc@iesc.org
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Monrovia – Since the government of President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf came to power, many small and medium businesses have benefited from micro financing loans to increase their business enterprises, with less attention paid to agriculture business groups.
Recently, IESC under a USAID program, Liberia Investing for Business Expansion (IBEX) formulated a way to help informal farming groups acquire loans from banks to invest. IESC/IBEX in…
read moreFor Immediate Release:
IESC’s Innovative BizAIDS Africa Program Reaches 10th Anniversary
Helping Thousands of SMEs in Sub Saharan Africa to Cope with the Economic Impact of HIV/AIDS
WASHINGTON DC, February 14, 2014: International Executive Service Corps (IESC) is celebrating the 10th anniversary of its successful BizAIDS program, set up in southern Africa in 2004 to help small businesses, their owners, families and local…
read moreMy assignment was to provide assistance to business associations in order to help them develop advocacy skills as part of IESC’s Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) Support Project in the Republic of Georgia. I met with the officials in Tbilisi and then went to the regions outside the capital. Before my arrival, Mr. Saba Sarishvili, SME Development Manager, sent guidance to help me prepare. One piece of advice was not clear at…
read more Consultant Rick Hibberd (on the right)
at The London Tourism Show
My IESC project in Armenia included branding their first tourism campaign with logo and slogan “Armenia: Timeless ‘Undiscovered” and creating exhibits for International Tourism Bourse 2000, Berlin’s mammoth trade show, later London’s World Travel Mart. I also designed a tourist information center opposite Yerevan’s lively vernissage* for…
read moreVolunteer Donna Howard
The Armenians are extremely hospitable. Their phrase for hospitality is “to love our guest.” At every NGO I visited, I was offered tea or coffee, and I usually accept tea. Tea is a ritual in Armenia, which, I realize now, includes a nice cloth or scarf placed on the table, the loveliest cups or glasses one has, and a plate of cookies or candy at the most humble of locations. No…
read moreRussian teatime
Shortly after Perestroika, in 1996, IESC sent us to Vladimir, Russia. From American television we had the idea that Russians are rather cold and distant people who seldom smiled. However, during our time in Russia we discovered their warmth and hospitality. The project was a huge success and we made life-long friends.
At that time, business was mostly done on the barter system. The…
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