Center Offers Training For Women Entrepreneurs

Thirty-four women running micro businesses, from beauty parlors to bakeries, are being given the tools to bring their enterprises to the next level, thanks to training from the Regional Productivity Center (CEFOF).

The savings and loan Coopemex R.L. worked with CEFOF to organize the project, through which the women receive training in computers and general administration, including client service and accounting, according to a statement from the center.

Of the participants, selected by Coopemex, 16 are young women (ages 18-25) from the Women’s Professional Institute of Pavas, in western San José. The remaining 18, ages 30-60, run micro businesses in Pavas and La Carpio, an impoverished neighborhood west of the city.

Lina León, 40, who runs a beauty parlor in Pavas, said the training has been extremely beneficial, since she could not afford to take any classes before starting her business.

CEFOF was founded in 1992 with funding from the government of Japan, through the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA).