Improving Economies for Stronger Communities (IESC)
2000 M Street NW
Suite 250
Washington, DC 20036
Tel: 202-589-2600
Email: iesc@iesc.org
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My 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…
read moreI am afraid I do not have a specific anecdote or photo/video clip about my experience with IESC but perhaps I have a unique story that might be of interest.
IESC Volunteer Albert E. Koehl (died in 1970)
In 1964, my father Albert E. Koehl read a story by James Reston in the New York Times about a proposed new international volunteer organization for experienced business people. He doggedly tried to contact…
read moreIESC is the primary implementer of Morocco Commercial Development Organizations Support Program, which is funded by The U.S. State Department’s Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI). As part of this program, IESC provides a competitive grant fund as well as expert technical assistance and training to Moroccan trade associations, cooperatives, business development organizations and chambers of commerce. In July 2013, after reviewing 87…
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