Education and non-repayable financial support aided the entrepreneurial transformation of young people under 30 and job seekers over 30 in the Southern Great Plain. During the European Union funding period from 2014 to 2020, 1635 new businesses were established in the counties of Bács-Kiskun, Békés, and Csongrád-Csanád.
This call for proposals, aimed at assisting young people and job seekers in the Southern Great Plain to become entrepreneurs, sparked the imagination of many seeking a path to success. Thousands showed interest in the opportunity, with 1795 eventually starting the training. In the region, the training and mentoring activities were led by the Southern Great Plain Regional Social Science Research Association (DARTKE) as the consortium leader. The project explicitly aimed to address both young people under 30 and job seekers over 30.
Under the Economic Development and Innovation Operational Programme (EDIOP), funded by the European Social Fund’s non-repayable grant, the project’s objectives included sustainable labour market integration of young people, especially those not engaged in employment or education. Special attention was given to those under 30 from socially excluded or disadvantaged communities. Those over 30 were also eligible to apply, as the project encompassed facilitating access to employment for job seekers and training for the long-term unemployed.
The majority of applicants, 1742 in total, successfully passed exams between 2019 and 2022, after participating in an intensive nine-day, 80-hour training. During the training, students acquired essential economic knowledge for starting a business, learned how to write a business plan, and received practical guidance on the administrative tasks they would face. They received all the necessary knowledge for starting and sustaining their businesses, enabling them to become self-employed.
As part of the project in the Southern Great Plain region, 1635 businesses were established, the majority choosing the small taxpayer individual entrepreneur form, but nearly a hundred limited liability companies were also founded. Among the young people under 30 with an entrepreneurial mindset, 1111 established individual or partnership businesses, and 524 job seekers over 30 did the same.
In addition to training and mentoring, customer service was available to participants throughout the project, and after establishing their businesses, DARTKE monitored their progress and provided consultancy upon request for successful operation. The newly established individual or partnership businesses could apply for non-repayable financial support from the Hungarian State Treasury, which they could use for their own salaries in the first year and later to cover related expenses, such as equipment purchases or office rent.
The program was implemented with European Union funding under the EDIOP-5.1.9-17-2017-00003 project.
More details can be found in the supported project search: Details
